Peter and the Itsy Bitsy Spider
by Lily Bird Flower
Summary: It starts before Peter gets his powers. My summaries suck. Peter’s life changes after his aunt and uncle bring a new child into the mix. He gains his powers the same way and eventually becomes Spider-Man. The Avengers will eventually target Spider-Man. Twists and turns hopefully along the way.
1. I Meet My New Famiwy

**Just so you know, this is my first writing piece and will therefore be absolutely horrible. But I will do my best. Just in case I can't make a summary for no reason, this story will be a Spider-Man and Avengers crossover, and Peter will be an orphan trying to take care of his "sister". Well, for the beginning. I have no idea how to do this. Also, I'm changing the sister's name, so those who read this earlier, sorry if you liked the original name better.**

 _This will be a human's thought. Or a not-monsterous thought._

 _ **This will be a monster thinking, though it will not happen often.**_

(This will be me speaking, and it will hopefully not happen that often.)

"This will be regular speech for a not-monster."

 **"This will be a monster talking."**

 **These are author notes. Without further ado, let's begin.**

(Just so you know, I do not have a proof reader, so I will have many mistakes. A fair warning for many mispelled words ahead.)

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BE- _SLAM!_ Peter's hand slammed into the alarm clock, cutting it off abruptly. Groggily reaching for his glasses, Peter groaned and rolled over so he could sit on the edge of the bed. As he put on his glasses, he looked over at the time and immediately began throwing everything onto the floor.

"I'm going to be late again!" Peter half shouted as he pulled up his jeans and pulled a red hoodie off a hanger. He ran out the door as he wriggled his way into his hoodie and slipped halfway down the stairs.

Paying no attention to his now bloody nose, Peter pushed himself off the floor and barreled into the kitchen, jumping into his seat as Aunt May placed a plate of bacon and eggs and a glass of water onto the table.

"Late again, Peter?" Uncle Ben chuckled to himself as he watched Peter inhale his bacon and chug his water.

Peter hugged his aunt briefly, calling over his shoulder "Thanks for the food!" as he scramble to collect his things before dashing out the door with a "Byeseeyoulaterhopeyouhaveanicedayatwork!"

Peter glanced at his watch. It was 7:35. "SHIT!" Peter chanted in his mind as school started at 7:50, and the bus took 20 minutes to get to the school. (Sorry, should have warned you there would be cussing. Hey, it's an Avengers crossover, of COURSE there's going to be cussing.)

Even with Peter running as fast as his legs would allow -which wasn't that fast, just look at Peter's grade in gym- he still got to school at 8:20, half an hour late to school. "Aww, damn," Peter cussed under his breath. "It's only been a month of school and already I'm half an hour late."

After a harsh scolding of his English teacher Mrs. Parker (I'm going to give random names to teachers, just letting you know.), Peter sat down in English with Flash occasionally throwing balls of paper and once a rock. That did not go unnoticed by Mrs. Parker and she immediately gave Flash detention.

Obviously Flash blamed Peter for his detention and as Peter trudged out of English and headed to Mr. Harrison's math class Flash slammed him into the lockers. "You're _so_ going to pay for that detention slip, Penis Parker," Flash hissed, and Peter bit back a retort as Flash's fist dug into his cheek. His lackeys followed close behind laughing as Flash threw blow after blow on Peter. Peter just threw his arms up in defense until Flash decided Peter had enough and left Peter there laughing with his lackeys.

Peter huffed and brushed himself off, wincing at every movement he made. Reaching down for his backpack, Peter pushed away any pain as he ran for Mr. Harrison's classroom hoping beyond hope that he would make it in time. Thankfully Peter made it just before the bell rang, since he didn't wish to disappoint his favorite teacher by being late.

Near the end of math class, while Peter's class worked on the math homework due tomorrow, Peter's phone vibrated in his pocket, thankfully not ringing. Peter spared a quick glance at the text sent to him by Aunt May, asking him to come home, and Peter quickly gathered his things and walked up to Mr. Harrison's desk.

Mr. Harrison glanced up from the tests he was still grading from yesterday, sighing as he saw Peter's packed things. "What happened this time?" Mr. Harrison's tired voice asked, and Peter's face heated up from embarrassment.

"My aunt asked me to come home and help her with something at home, since her back still hurts," Peter mumbled, barely loud enough for Mr. Harrison to hear. Peter shuffled his feet, not looking at Mr. Harrison's face.

Mr. Harrison let out a tired sigh as he filled out a pass for Peter to leave the school. "I'll let you off this time, but please tell your aunt to stop calling you home in the middle of the school day, okay?" Peter nodded vigorously, and Mr. Harrison handed over the leave pass.

"Here's the field trip form that your science teacher would have handed to you," Mr. Harrison said, handing a sheet of paper to Peter, who snatched it and left as quickly as he could. After another heated conversation with the secretary for leaving school early AGAIN, she waved him out the door and Peter began his tiring walk back home.

Aunt May had finished making early lunch for Peter by the time Peter got back home, which was around 11:25. "Aunt May, I'm home!" Peter yelled as he ran up the stairs and changed into his pajamas.

"Come downstairs, Petey!" Peter groaned half heartedly at the nickname Aunt May lovingly gave him. "I have a surprise for you!" At this Peter perked up. _A surprise? But it's not even close to any holiday or celebration._

Curious, Peter opened his door and padded down the stairs, wandering into the kitchen while wondering what Aunt May's surprise could be. He certaintly wasn't expecting what aunt May was holding in her arms, grinning at Peter's shocked face.

"SURPRISE!" Aunt May cheered, placing the child on the floor so she could toddle around the house. "Isn't Mara just the cutest thing you ever saw?" Aunt May gleefully said, watching happily as the small child wandered over to Peter.

Peter gaped at what he saw. "..." Peter was at a lost for words as Mara giggled and lifted her arms up toward his face, clenching and unclenching her hands while bouncing on her feet.

Aunt May shook Peter out of his shock by saying, "Peter, it's not nice to keep her waiting." Peter looked down helplessly at tiny Mara waiting to be picked up.

"Pick me up! Pick me up!" she whined, tears welling up in her eyes when Peter didn't pick her up. "Pwease?" Mara put on her best puppy dog eyes, which broke Peter's heart.

Peter smiled. "Okay," he said hesitantly, not sure how to pick her up. He looked up at Aunt May. "Umm..." Aunt May caught on to what he wanted to ask.

"Don't worry about hurting her, after all she's such a big girl. Isn't that right?" The little girl nodded, puffing up her chest with such pride Peter had to hold back a snort of laughter. "Anyways, you hold her like this..." Aunt May demonstrated by picking her off the ground with ease and twirling Mara around.

"Do that again!" she cried as she was placed on the floor, stumbling a bit before falling to the floor with a laugh. Aunt May laughed with her, but it was cut off once she got a good look at Peter's face.

"What happened?!" Aunt May gasped, examining Peter's bruises, bloody nose, and swollen eye. It had healed somewhat, so you couldn't tell unless you paid attention to his face, but he still looked like a bus ran over him.

Peter gently pushed Aunt May away. "It was just a prank, nothing to worry about," Peter said, hoping his aunt would drop it. It was a lost cause, though.

"Yeah, and I'm the richest gal in the world," Aunt May huffed, clearly unimmpressed by Peter's blatant lie. "It was those bullies again, right?"

"Aunt May, it's nothing to" Peter began, but was immediately cut off by Aunt May.

"Why don't you tell me their names? Why won't you let me help?" Aunt May scolded, glancing over at the little girl every once in a while to make sure she was okay. "If not me, why don't you turn to Flash? You two were such good friends when you were children."

Peter snorted. If only Aunt May knew. "Mara, no!" Aunt May shrieked as she pulled the small girl away from the outlet Thana had been reaching for, clutching her close and breathing heavily.

Mara looked up at Aunt May's face, having no clue just how much fear she had caused in Aunt May. Aunt May let her down once her breathing calmed, and she said, "Mara, don't touch those. They could kill you." Mara tilted her head to the side as she absorbed this information.

"They could kiw me if I touch them?" Mara said, understanding sinking in. Mara's face seemed rather calm, but she glanced over at the outlet warily, letting Aunt May and Peter know that she caught on.

"Yes," Aunt May breathed out, relief flooding her facial features. "So don't touch it, okay?" Mara nodded, feeling pleased that Aunt May was happier now.

The sound of the landline rang throughout the house, and Aunt May spared a brief glare in Peter's direction. "This talk isn't over young man. Go have some fun with Thana, alright?" Aunt May didn't wait for an answer before she left for the phone.

A tug at Peter's pajama pants caught Peter's attention, and he looked down to see Mara smiling. She instantly said, "Pick me up! Pick me up!" Peter let a smile spread across his face as he attempted to copy how Aunt May picked her up and almost dropped Thana in the process.

Aunt May's laughter rang out through the house as she excitedly rambled through the phone, and Peter brought Mara upstairs so he could show her his favorite videos and games on his computer. She was fascinated by the computer, and immediately wanted to know how it worked.

The rest of the day before Uncle Ben arrived in the house was spent with Peter showing her how the conputer and the internet worked, as well as showing her some funny videos and challenges. Like the Try Not to Laugh challenge -which Mara failed miserably at- and the How Long Can You Hold Your Breath challenge -Peter was pretty sure Mara had set a pretty much unbreakable record of- and teaching Mara how to play games on the computer.

Peter had such a great time with Mara he almost forgot about the impending conversation that Aunt May wanted. "Peter, it's time for dinner!" Aunt May called. Peter turned to the clock, bewildered at the fact that time had flown by so fast. Sure enough, it was 7:12 pm, the normal time for dinner in the Parker household.

Peter held on to Mara's hand as he guided her down the steps, taking extra care to make sure she didn't trip or slip. Then Mara ambled her way into the kitchen, with Peter walking right behind her. Aunt May saw the two of them and gestured for them to hide from the view of the dining table. Peter wondered why when it struck that Uncle Ben probably didn't know about Mara yet. He gently stopped Mara from advancing into the kitchen and shushed her to keep it a surprise.

"Ben," Peter heard Aunt May begin, "I have a surprise for you!"

"Really?" That was Uncle Ben. "Well, where is it, May?"

Aunt May peered around the corner and gestured for Peter and Mara to show themselves. Peter loosely held Mara's hand and gently pulled Mara into view for Uncle Ben to see. "Surprise!" Aunt May and Peter cheered, with Peter picking up Mara and bringing her closer to Uncle Ben.

Uncle Ben's face was similar to that of a goldfish, his mouth hanging open. Mara reached out for Uncle Ben, and Peter set her down so she could walk towarda Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben got up and lifted Mara upwards, feeling more happy than shocked at this point. "Who have we here?" Uncle Ben said, throwing Mada up lightly before catching her again, Mara's laugh like little bells.

Aunt May set up a chair for Mara to sit upon. "Isn't she just adorable?" Aunt May asked, squishing Thana's cheeks and lightly pinching them.

Uncle Ben set her down on the chair and pushed her in. "What's her name?" he asked.

"Mara," Aunt May sweetly replied, setting down a plate of spaghetti and a fork, along with a juicebox in front of Mara. "I saw her at the orphanage and I just couldn't help but adopt her. She seemed to be bullied by the other kids as well, for some reason," Aunt May added, worry filling her tone.

Peter sat down, head bent down as he stuffed spaghetti into his salivating mouth. "And speaking of getting bullied..." Aunt May began, her tone matching her glare. Peter gulped down his spaghetti, hunching his shoulders and wishing to hide. "Peter, why don't you look up at me while I'm speaking?" Aunt May said, her tone sounding somewhat threatening.

Peter sheepishly raised his head, and Uncle Ben gasped lightly at the injuries on his face. "Peter, what happened to you? Was it those bullies again?"

Aunt May said, "Yes, it was. And don't you dare deny it, Peter," she added as she saw Peter's mouth open to retort. "Honestly, thinking you can just explain it away by calling it a prank."

Uncle Ben looked at Peter with worry. "Peter, why won't you let us help by saying something?" Mara looked between the three of them, her head swiveling like she's watching a tennis match.

Peter sighed. "Look, it's really nothing."

Aunt May slammed her hand on the table, causing Uncle Ben and Peter to jump in their seats. "Peter, don't lie to us!" she yelled, her eyes welling up. "Why do you keep saying that it's nothing?!"

Peter bit his bottom lip, looking away in shame. Uncle Ben placed his hand on top of Aunt May's, calming Aunt May down. Uncle Ben turned to look at Peter. "Peter, please don't keep pushing us away. We just want to help."

Peter nods silently. The dinner continues on solemnly, with Mara cheering up everyone a little with her antics. Peter gets up to go to his room, placing his dirty dishes in the sink. "Peter," Aunt May starts. "Can Mara sleep in your room tonight?"

Peter stared at Aunt May, in some kind of shock. "What?" Peter managed to get out.

Aunt May looked down at the table, then at Mara, and back to Peter. "Mara doesn't have a room of her own, and we don't have any room in our room. Don't worry, Ben'll set up her bed, but she'll have to be in your room. Is that all right?"

Peter looked over at Mara, and contemplated heavily. "Sorry, I just realized it's a bad idea," Aunt May hurriedly said.

Peter raised his hands in surrender. "No, it's okay!" Peter said without thinking. "She can sleep in my room until she gets a room of her own."

Aunt May looked at him concerned. "Are you sure?" She said, her shoulders sagging in relief.

Peter bit his lip, really regretting it but not wanting to burden Aunt May even more. "Yeah, I'm sure!" Peter beamed, hiding the remorse he felt of speaking without thinking. Aunt May sighed in relief and picked up a tissue to wipe off the spaghetti sauce smeared on Mara's face.

After he help Aunt May wash the dishes, he led Mara into his room and played with her while Uncle Ben set up a twin sized bed for Mara and hung up curtains around each others bed so both could have some resemblance of privacy. Soon enough Peter had them sign the field trip paper, helped Mara brush her teeth while brushing his teeth, and tucked Mara into bed.

Mara snuggled into her soft sheets, while Peter laid in bed thinking about the horrors that are going to come with having a little sister in his own bed. Peter groaned mentally as he rolled onto his other side to attempt some sleep. "Parker luck sucks," Peter whispered, mentally preparing himself for tomorrow.

 **Woah, that chapter was WAY longer than I expected. Hope if you decide to read this that you liked this chapter. If I can publish this chapter in the first place.**


	2. Fiewd Trip!

**Sorry the last chapter was absolutely horrible, I know. I don't exactly know how bad, but I read it again and it was _SO_ hurried. I'll try to slow it down, but I just want to get to the good stuff quicker. So expect the same speed in this chapter as the last one.**

 **Just in case you didn't know, THANA'S NAME IS NOW MARA! If you read this before I changed the name.**

Students were clumped together, whispering excitedly about the field trip they were about to have. Mr. Harrison looked down at his watch after he finished his attendance. "Peter's going to miss the field trip," Mr. Harrison muttered.

Mr. Harrison tapped his foot a few more times before straightening up and ushering everyone into the bus. "Quickly, or we'll be late!" Mr. Harrison yelled over the students' whispering.

"Peni - I mean Peter Parker's going to miss this!" Flash laughed with his friends. "If only I could see his face when he misses the bus," Flash snickered, his lackeys following his example.

"Mr. Harrison!" Peter called, his hair messed up, his clothes all wrinkled and panting heavily as he caught up to the teacher. "SorryI'mlateIdidn'tmean"

"Slow down, Peter," Mr. Harrison said. He led Peter into the bus and said, "Okay, go and find a seat, the bus won't wait for you." No sooner had Mr. Harrison sat down did the bus start to move.

Peter teetered forward and caught himself before he could fall on his face again. His gaze traveled through all the seats until he saw an empty seat in the very back. He stumbled forward and muttered, "Sorry. Excuse me. Didn't mean to."

Flash flashed Peter a grin (Did you see that. Flash _flashed_? Okay, I'll shut up now.) and stuck out his foot as Peter was passing by. Peter tripped and managed to cover his face before he fell, making minimal damage to his face, which was still peppered with bruises and his eye was still swollen, though it looked much better now. Flash barely managed to keep his laughter down, and everyone around him began to laugh at Peter's fallen figure. Peter's face flushed as he scrambled to get back up and move forward.

The bus ride was uneventful, thankfully, since Peter sat behind Flash and not in front of him. Though Peter's gaze locked onto the new student. Gwen. She was so beautiful that Peter thought she could be Aphrodite reincarnated as a human being. Peter knew that he would never be able to date her, but he could still dream.

Peter winced as he remembered how embarrassed he was when Mara woke up as he was changing his pants. That was not a great morning, though thankfully Mara didn't even look at his direction, she just drank some of the water on the nightstand and closed her curtains again. That was a relief, though still embarrassing to Peter.

Harry, after having seen Peter take the empty seat in the back, moved back a few rows and was now sitting next to Peter talking all about how cool Tony Stark's technology was, though he did at least say that his dad's inventions were awesome as well. "...and did you see how sleek his suit was? It was awesome!" Harry half whispered, vibrating excitedly in his seat.

Peter came back into the present and decided to amuse Harry with some comments about Iron Man, and totally not because he was a fan of Tony Stark's technology. "I know! The way he designed the repulsors were sweet. And the design of the Iron Man suit was absolutely _brilliant_!" Peter basically fan girled over Tony Stark's designs with Harry the entire bus ride.

"Oh, don't forget about that AI named JARVIS!" Harry said, his hands shaking with so much joy he could hardly contain it. "Dude, that AI is so much better than anything anyone could possibly make!"

Peter opened his mouth to fan girl even more about JARVIS, but the bus braked at that moment. All of the students hopped up, excited to finally be out of their high school and not forced to memorize stuff on a test. Peter was excited to learn what Oscorp makes face to face, and he would also take photos of the trip. It would be a complete and utter lie to say that he hadn't been grinning like an idiot when he hopped off the bus with the rest of the students.

Mr. Harrison clapped a few times to gain the attention of the students. "I know you are all excited, but you have to follow the rules. Just to be clear, I will state the rules again for all of those that didn't read the form and just had their parents sign the paper," Mr. Harrison said, much to the chagrin of the students. Pretty much all of the students in this group groaned either mentally or physically and Mr. Harrison placed his hands on his hips. "If you all had read the paper, this wouldn't be happening," Mr. Harrison huffed, and started to list off all of the rules.

Peter, having read the form and knew all of the rules by heart, took this time to examine the building they were about to enter. The building was 10 stories high, and filled to the brim with all sorts of gadgets and tech that Peter would faint if he was more weak of heart. Peter hopped from one foot to another as he waited for Mr. Harrison to finish the rules.

Harry leaned over to strike a short conversation. "Hey, did you know that my dad actually is making this tech that can fly like Iron Man, but with a glider instead?" Peter stared at Harry like he just grew wings and had flown over the building a few times. "What?" Harry said, pretending to be offended. "It's true!"

Peter shook his head. "Honestly, people are all rushing to allow people to fly without jets these days. One of these days a villain will steal that tech and start wreaking havoc upon the city." Now it was Harry's turn to stare at Peter.

Harry sighed. "Only you would think of that. I wonder if dad knows." Harry made a pondering face, his foot lightly tapping the pavement. "I'll ask him later," Harry at last said with a shrug. The conversation ended bewteen the two and they searched for entertainment from the lecture Mr. Harrison was dishing out.

Peter looked around, staying alert for Flash in fear that he may break his camera again. Last time Flash _accidentally_ pushed Peter, he dropped his camera into a river right next to where the field trip was taking place. Flash _apologized_ to Peter, but Peter was the one who still had to pay for a new camera. So you can forgive Peter for being a bit paranoid about his camera being around Flash.

Mr. Harrison finally concluded the ridiculously long list of rules with "Okay, now turn your attention to Mr. Samsurg. And be respectful to him, he took time out of his busy day just for us." Mr. Samsurg thanked Mr. Harrison and proceeded to lead the group into Oscorp.

Mr. Samsurg would gesture to a group of adults surrounding a table or a piece of the floor moving something around or fixing a piece of machinery and would summarize what they were doing. He had just finished talking about the glider Harry had talked about earlier and moved on to a series of glass cases filled with "...genetically enhanced spiders. We have been working on them for quite a while now, studying what Richard Parker had created before his death," Mr. Samsurg said.

The students' attention peaked at the name "Richard Parker". Harry elbowed Peter and whispered, "Hey, isn't that the name of your dad? I didn't know that he worked with Oscorp! Why didn't you tell me?"

Peter replied, "I didn't know about that either." Peter held his camera close to his body, trying his best to protect it against Flash and his lackeys. They hadn't broken it, but everytime Peter had tried to take a photo of something Flash or one of his friends would push Peter right when he was about to take a photo, therefore having Peter retake the photo. Peter was thankful they allowed him to retake the photos at all.

"That's probably where you got your love of science from, right?" Harry joked, or at least tried. His attempt at it was laughable, but Peter paid no mind and smiled at his attempt anyways. He tuned out Mr. Samsurg and saw Gwen near a glass case containing one of the enhanced spiders. Mr. Samsurg was talking about the superior reflexes of the spider and how it could stick to pretty much anything, but Peter filed that away for later.

Peter contemplated how he should confront Gwen, or if he should talk to her at all. Harry seemed to be telepathic, as he wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulder and said, "Dude, you should go talk to Gwen. You've been eyeing her ever since she came to this high school."

Peter lightly shoved Harry's arm off his shoulders. "No way! I can't talk to her. She's so perfect and pretty and I'm...not." Peter longed to talk with Gwen, but he was nobody. She would be more likely to date Flash, and that's saying something.

"Peter," Harry's face twisted into a cheshire grin, and Peter knew immediately that it would be very bad for him. "You better talk to Gwen or I'll tell your aunt and uncle about that time when you-!"

Peter quickly walked away, saying, "You know what, I think I'm going to talk to her." Harry's laugh echoed behind Peter, who's face was flushed with embarrassment. As Peter walked over he started to panic, wishing for all the world that Harry had not butted in and blackmailed him into talking to Gwen. _I should turn around and think of something to say. What should I do? Do I comment on her looks, or her clothing, her eyes?_

Peter decided to turn around, but Gwen saw him before he could run away like a coward. "Hey Peter!" Gwen said cheerily, and Peter almost melted into a puddle by how angelic her voice had sounded to him. _Stay calm, stay calm._

"Hey, Gwen!" Peter said nervously, wincing at how his voice cracked. _Stupid puberty_. "Umm... Can I take a photo of you?" Peter asked before he could think, and he mentally kicked himself. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! Stupid Parker!_

Gwen smiled slyly. "Oh? And why is that?" _I wish I never listened to Harry, I wish I never came to the field trip. Oh, why did I even come?_

"Because I need a picture of a student, and you were in the perfect position?" Gwen laughed lightly, and Peter's knees almost gave out by how beautiful her laugh was. She hunched over slightly as she clutched her stomach.

"Was that a question for me, or for you?" Gwen said after she finished laughing. Peter blushed slightly and lowered his head to hide the faint blush.

"It wasn't a question, not exactly." Peter shuffled in place a little bit, feeling Gwen's gaze on him. "Can I take that photo now? I really want to get this over with a soon as possible." Gwen laughed a little and leaned toward the case but not on it, in case the display case would break. Somehow she looked just as good not posing as she did posing.

Peter scanned the room and saw Flash talking to his friends on the other side of the room. _Good, I won't have to retake this photo._ Peter raised the camera up to his eye and looked for the perfect angle for this photo. Gwen sweetly smiled, and if Peter had not been completely focused on not being an idiot his legs would have most certainly turned into jelly.

Little did both know that a spider slowly lowered itself down with a strand of webbing right above Peter's hand. As Peter clicked the button on top of the camera and took the photo, the spider had already landed and hid itself on Peter's body. "There, perfect!" Peter exclaimed, feeling more relaxed than he had ever been with Gwen watching.

"Can I see the photo?" Peter handed the camera to Gwen, and she studied the photo for a minute. She sinply stared at it. "Woah. That's an amazing picture." Gwen handed the camera back to Peter, who grasped it like it was his lifeline.

"Th-Thanks," Peter stuttered, reverting back to shy little nerdy kid in front of Gwen. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Mr. Harrison.

"Everyone group up!" Mr. Harrison yelled, herding people into one place with his words. "Flash, get your group over here! Linda, put that down! Peter, Gwendolyn, hurry up!"

Gwen replied, "Coming!" She jogged over to the group, leaving Peter by himself. Harry made a "Come over here!" gesture, and Peter began to walk back, running a hand through his hair. Then a pain erupted on the back of his neck as soon as he moved his hand near there.

Peter shouted in pain rather loudly, but he couldn't be heard over the students' conversational chatter. As soon as the pain came it vanished, leaving a confused Peter to stand there like an idiot before continuing forward. He stood next to Harry as Mr. Samsurg concluded the tour. "Dude, what took you so long?" Harry asked.

Peter shrugged. "I felt some pain and waited it out before coming over here." _There's no point in lying. Harry's my best friend, after all._ Harry nodded but wasn't able to say more as they were herded out of Oscorp and back into the bus.

"Hey, where do you think we'll go on our next field trip?" Harry was shivering in the excitement of the past few hours spent in Oscorp.

Peter almost shrugged, but stopped when he realized that he did that too often. "I don't know. I mean, we'd be lucky if we even managed to go to Chucky Cheese for a field trip this year." A spasm of pain erupted in his ear, and Peter lurched forward as he clutched his ears in pain.

Peter could hear Harry say, "What's wrong?" In fact, it sounded way too loud. Everything did. The students talking sounded like they were yelling in his ears all at the same time, the sunlight was _way_ too bright and blinded Peter for a bit, his clothes were too scratchy and rubbed his skin in an annoying fashion, the smells so strong his eyes started to water. Peter clenched his eyes closes and clenched his teeth as he chanted, _Don't start screaming, don't start screaming, don't scream._

Peter rocked back and forth for the remainder of the bus ride, thankful he was in the back. Who knows what Flash would have done if Peter sat in front of him. A migraine had formed by the time he made it back home. He trudged up the porch steps and placed his spare key into the front door lock.

"Aunt May! Uncle Ben! I'm home!" Peter called out. Then, he added, "Hi Mara!"

Aunt May's voice rang out. "Mara's not home yet! She went to elementary school for her first day, remember?" _Oh yeah._ Peter walked up the stairs and entered his room, the migraine worsening.

Peter changed into his pjs, clutching his ear every time Aunt May would laugh into the phone, or whenever Uncle Ben ranted about how high the crime rates were. He let himself drop onto his bed and curled up in a ball on the corner of his bed.

Peter stayed that way until the doorbell rang through his ears. After the ringing in his ears subsided, he checked his clock. It was 3:30 pm. _So Mara's home._

After he withstood the torment of Aunt May and Uncle Ben's loud and joyous welcome just for Mara, he heard the door creak as it opened. He glanced up and through a crack in his curtains he could see Mara standing in the doorway looking straight at his bed. She was hopping up and down in the excitement of her first day at school, it seemed.

"Hi, big brother!" Mara spoke cheerfully. Her footsteps echoed rather loudly in Peter's ears, causing him to cringe. "Can we pway today?" Her voice was rather soft and cheery, which Peter was very thankful for, as it didn't hurt his ears. She pulled back the curtains cheerfully and hopped onto his bed, wearing a simple flower dress that Aunt May had bought for her a few days ago.

Immediately Peter's eyes began to water from the light shining into the room, even with the window blinds semi closed. "Ow..." One of Mara's small, pale hands rested on Peter's shoulder, all energy seeming to have been sapped away as Mara was worried.

"Are you okay?" Her wide, fiery blue eyes filled with concern as Peter's eyes watered from the light. She lightly took off Peter's glasses with her right hand and placed them on the nightstand, moving to place the still messed up blankets over him in an attempt to make Peter more comfy in his pain. Peter wanted to nod, but a burst of new, fresh pain had him curling up further.

Mara chattered as she sat there with Peter, telling him all about her day and random stuff she found on the internet. Whenever she mentions something that made her sad, she would briefly hug Peter tightly, before launching into another talking spree. Peter uncurled sometime before, and even was able to sit up without doubling over in pain, though Mara did talk quietly so that Peter's ears could gain some rest. Then Aunt May called, "Peter, Mara, it's time for dinner!" with Peter wincing as she yelled.

Mara hopped off the bed, and before she walked out she looked back at Peter. "Do you have a headache?" Mara asked. Peter nodded slowly, frowning at the pain enveloping his entire body. He heard Mara attempting to walk down the stairs, and a sudden cry of fear as she seemed to slip, but there never was a thud, so Peter thought she was okay.

Aunt May's worried voice called out. "Are you alright, Mara?"

Mara replied, "Yeah, almost swipped, but I'm okay!"

Aunt May spoke from the kitchen, and her voice was surprsingly clear to Peter. "Is Peter coming down?"

Mara's soft voice floated into Peter's ear, and her voice sounded like she was right beside him. "No, he has a headache. I think he's had sensory overwoad." _I never told her that I had sensory overload._ Peter frowned, and shifted his legs into a slightly more comfy position.

"What a smart girl." _That was Uncle Ben. God, he sounds like he's barely a foot away._ "Is Peter all right?"

"Yes," Mara's voice came back a little too quickly. "He just has a bad headache. I wiw take his food up for you."

"Mara!" _Aunt May sounds asto— OWWW!!!!_ "...the food to him myself." _What happened? Wait, Aunt May's walking up the steps._

A knock sounded through the room, resonating within Peter, and Peter bit down so hard on his lips that they started to bleed. "Petey, dear. Mara told us that you have a horrible headache, are you alright?" Peter stretched for the tissues Mara had brought up two days ago, his vision slightly blurring at the effort put into the action, and wiped the little amount of blood.

"Yeah, that's all!" Peter called to Aunt May. "You can come in if you want." The door opened to reveal Nara holding the door open for Aunt May.

"Thank you, sweetie." Aunt May genuinely smiled at Thana's gesture of kindness, and entered Peter's room with a disapproving glance over the amount of clothes Peter had spread out over the floor. "I thought I taught you well the art of neat messes long ago," Aunt May joked with a shake of her head, and set the tray of food on the nightstand, lightly pushing the box of tissues to make more room.

"Do you want anything else, Petey?" Aunt May caringly brushed Peter's bed hair out of his face, and Peter shook his head with a grimace at the sudden motion. Mara stood awkwardly by the computer, feeling like she was the third wheel.

Peter's head felt like it had a second, more violent heart inside and white dots crowded his peripheral vision. "Actually, can you be a bit quieter?" Peter said as Aunt May began to leave. "The migraine's worse with loud noises."

Aunt May replied "Of course, my little pumpkin pie!" sweetly, and whispered "Sorry," when Peter made a big show of flinching at the loud and high pitched voice Aunt May used. "What about you, Mara?" Mara's head snapped up at Aunt May's question.

"Maybe some dessert?" Mara mumbled shyly, her grin lopsided. Aunt May hugged Mara and blew Peter a get-well-kiss before closing Peter's bedroom door behind her. Mara looked over at Peter for a bit before skipping out of her bedroom and slowly making her way down the stairs. Peter groaned as another spasm of pain shot right through him.

POV Change! (Yay!)

Mara clung onto the railing for her life as she carefully brought her foot down on the last step. "Walking is so HARD," Mara said under her breath, and she waddled over on unsteady feet over to the downstairs bathroom. She barely managed to reach the doorknobs in this house, and she made a bunch of weird noises as she stretched her body out to reach the doorknob. "I hate being small," Mara groaned as she at last managed to turn the doorknob and opened the bathroom door.

"It's so hard to reach doorknobs!" Mara complained as she waddled over to the stool Aunt May had gotten her so she could reach the sink and clambered onto the sink counter. With her tiny, pale hands, Mara pressed down on the mirror and pulled at the edges just hard enough to open the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. "No- _Humans_ should wearn to keep heaw food in better pwaces." Mara searched the cabinet for about a minute before she found the painkillers.

She hopped off -careful enough to hop in a safe direction where she was least likely to injure herself- and toddled her way back to the stairs. She crawled on all fours up the stairs, with the medicine clattering against the container, and got up at the top of the stairs. "Peter," Mara called out softly, aware that his ears wanted some rest from yelling and Aunt May chattering softly into the phone. "I got some heaw food for you," Mara said as she turned the doorknob and entered the - no, her room.

"God, you look awfuw." Peter chuckled softly, wincing as he did so. "Here, eat four of the heaw food." She measured out exactly how much she thought Peter would need, before stretching out her hand for Peter to take the medicine.

Peter frowned at the pills. "But, I'm only supposed to take two." Peter reached out, yet grabbed only two of the pills. Mara lightly threw the other two pills up in a silent gesture for Peter to take the other two.

Mara pouted when Peter made no move to take the other two pills. "Pwease? I onwy want you to feew better." Mara's eyes welled with tears, and Peter finally relented and grabbed the other two. Mara's grin split her face in two, and she mentally cheered at making Peter do what is good for him.

She patted his hand as he reached for the water Aunt May had brought up with his dinner, which Thana noticed had only been touched a little. Giving a dirty look, Mara said, "Why didn't you eat?"

Peter looked at the food with a look of... nausea? Distaste? "I'm not that hungry right now," Peter muttered, looking away as he placed the last pill into his mouth and finished the wated. Sensing Peter was indeed hungry, Mara placed her hands on her hips and gave Peter the evil eye.

"Of course, and I'm a warrior that has a heart fo stone. You are hungry, big brother." Noticing his frown, Mara glared right back at Peter. "And don't deny it!" she huffed, crossing her arms. _All I want to do is help you._

Peter threw his hands up in surrender. "Okay, I won't deny anything," he said slowly, as if testing Mara. _Trust me, the only thing big brother will for sure be doing is eating that dinner._ Mara continued to glare at him, and nodded her head in the direction of the tray. "What, you want me to eat now?"

At this, Mara gave out a little laugh. "Oh, of course not, I was just waiting for the sun to set," Mara said sarcastically. "Of course I want you to eat now. Or else I wiw tew Aunt May that you want to eat her meatwoaf."

Peterms eyes widened dramatically. "You wouldn't!" Peter said with a slight hint of fear sprinkled in on the top. Mara smiled, the kind of smile people use when they think of something to embarrass you, showing off her canines. She made a show of walking to the door, twisting the doorknob and slowly opened the door. She opened her mouth...

"Okay, you win!" Peter said hurriedly, spreading his arms in a "Stop!" position. After another glare from Mara, he made a show of reaching for the spoon and stuffing it in his mouth. He swallowed, but Mara wasn't convinced.

"Show me your mouth," Mara said, having covered her words in a threatening voice. After a few seconds of deliberation, Peter swallowed again and opened his mouth to show no soup in his mouth. Mara sincerely smiled, her eyes glowing with delight. "I wiw get some water! Eat that chicken soup. Or I wiw be sad."

Mara hardly made it down the stairs before she heard Peter say, "God, she's so fussy and intelligent. Just two weeks ago she was confused and didn't know that many words, and demanded everyone to pick her up. She must have picked up on my intelligence."

Giggles elicited from Mara as she thought about how Peter's face looked like a tomato when he was leaving the bedroom. _Why was he red? I wiw ask wayter!_ Mara skipped down the hallway and happily walked up the stairs with a cup of water in hand. Opening the door, Mara exclaimed, "You ate it!" setting down the glass of water as she did so.

"Goodnight, big brother," Mara said, closing Peter's curtains to let as little light in as possible. Mara even closed the blinds, making the room dark enough so Peter's eyes could find some rest. It wasn't that hard to notice that Peter's eyes were very sensitive today, though why was unknown by Mara.

The rest of that day was spent helping Peter feel less like shit and finding entertainment via anything a child could get their tiny hands on. Soon the day ended, the digital clock read 9:30, and Mara lay curled underneath her blankets, snuggling deeper into her very comfortable pillow. Tomorrow, Peter would be in for a shock with the powers he would gain. (You already know what powers he will gain.)

 **That was very long. Hope that wasn't too boring. The next chapter will actually be after Peter noticed his powers and picked out his costume to wear. I didn't want to have to write about Peter getting all freaked out about his powers, so let's say a few weeks had gone by between this chapter and next chapter. And Peter won't have to make web shooters other than to make his web shooting more precise and accurate. Just letting you all know. I'll even say it in the next chapter: A FEW WEEKS HAD GONE BY SINCE THE FIELD TRIP TO OSCORP. Bye, whoever likes to read these end notes.**


	3. We Are Now Orphans

**THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING A MONTH AFTER THE END OF THE LAST CHAPTER. Hi, whoever decides to read this sorry excuse of a story. I changed it to a month, and I really want to say that Aunt May and Uncle Ben are actually going to die together. Through to the end. Also, something is going on with Mara.**

 **Just to give you a hint, the meaning of the name Mara in Hebrew means bitterness or sorrow, and in Swedish means nightmare and in Sanskrit means death. Also, in a few chapters (hopefully) you'll get a deeper insight into what Mara is going through. Have a wonderful time reading this chapter, if you can. Bye now, for whoever reads these notes.**

If one were to walk down a certain street, they would be able to hear sobs and a small child crying. Of course, nobody would look twice down that alley as they would simply see a homeless teen with a small child, nothing harmful. If only they knew who exactly the teen was. Of course, by now you must know who I am talking about. Peter Parker and his adopted sister Mara Parker.

But wait, weren't they positively happy last chapter? And the chapter before that? What happened? Well, it is quite sad and gruesome.

After Peter had managed to spook himself out by producing web out of his wrists and sticking to walls, he began to see that he could help people with these powers. In fact, he was inspired to help because while he would watch the news caster tell gruesome murders and kidnappings, Peter could very well imagine Mara as being one of those victims and became determined to make the streets crime free for his little sister. (I mean, who wouldn't want to protect Mara from the dangers of the outside world?)

So Peter began sneaking out at night in disguise beating up criminals and getting injured in the process. He would design some ideas for suits and then began to try and make them. _Guess all that time spent with Aunt May trying to help teach Mara how to sow was not wasted._

Not only that, but Peter would go out and train when he thought Aunt May and Uncle Ben wouldn't notice. Of course, they noticed the injuries Peter would have, and began to worry for him, and even brought poor sweet Mara into this mess that she could hardly wrap her mind around. Peter was also trying his best to spend time with Mara, but that was becoming harder and almost borderline impossible with how much time he had to spend outside fighting crime.

One time, Peter went out to fight and came home with a broken wrist and tried his best to hide it from Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Of course, Mara had noticed and pointed it out, which instantly caught the attention of Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Peter and Uncle Ben got into a nasty fight, and it ended with Peter storming out of the house unaware that Mara, worried about Peter's safety, ran after him.

When she ran out sobbing after Peter, crying out "Pwease don't weave!" in between those heart wrenching sobs, both Uncle Ben and Aunt May hurried after them, and when they lost Peter and Mara they decided to drive around New York searching for the two. Peter kept his head down and entered a store trying to buy a bag of chips before having forgotten his money at home.

After roaming about, he decided to head back home when he caught the sounds of screams from a little girl crying for her big brother. Peter's heart began hammering as he recognized that voice and ran like a madman toward the source. He saw Mara being picked up by a police man, her feet kicking out and her fists beating his back, red tears streaming down her face.

"Mara!" Peter screamed, gunning it down the street. He pulled on the arm of the police officer, and surprisingly the officer listened, placing Mara on the floor.

"Is she related to you?" the officer demanded. Peter nodded quickly, wanting nothing more than to head home.

"Yep! He's my big brother!" Mara's small, cheery voice wobbled, and dried red streaks stained her cheeks. Peter's heart broke in to hearing the adoration she had for him, for he felt he didn't deserve it. He never thought that she might have followed him out of the house, and then how would he protect her then?

"Thank you for finding her," Peter at last said, leaving the street and heading home, though on the way home he saw a man with rainbow colored hair booking it out of the same store he was trying to buy chips from. Peter clung onto Mara and pulled her out of the way before he trampled her when he wasn't looking. The man jumped into a car and drove off, though not before taking a swig of what Peter could tell was a beer bottle.

Peter shook his head and patted down Mara to search for wounds, before deeming her uninjured and heading home. Mara grasped his hands tightly, skipping happily and cheerfully waving to everyone they passed. "Big brother, where are we going?" Mara looked up at him with her wide, bright blue eyes, and Peter had to smile for those eyes.

"We're going back home, where we'll eat pizza and ice cream and juice..." Peter began listing off everything he could think of that Mara loved that he could easily give her, and he never regretted seeing her eyes sparkling with pure and utter joy. By the time they arrived home, Peter had been carrying sleepy Mara on his back for quite a ways. She peacefully slept and Peter couldn't bear to wake her up.

Then the doorbell rang. After checking on Mara to see if she was awake, Peter answered the door and saw a new police officer standing at his door. The officer asked, "Are you Peter Parker?" Peter instantlyknew something bad had happened to Aunt May and Uncle Ben, since they hadn't been picking up the phone.

"Yeah," Peter replied, hoping beyond hope that this wasn't about Aunt May or Uncle Ben.

Yet it wasn't to be. "I'm sorry to say this, but your aunt and uncle May and Benjamin Parker had crashed tonight. They both died from the impact. I'm sorry..." Peter zoned out, feeling unsteady and weak.

 _They're... dead?_ "...orphanage close by will take you in, since you have no other living relatives." _What?!_

"Wait, what?" Peter spoke suddenly, terrified of what the officer had said.

"I said the orphanage nearby will take you in, since your relatives are all dead." Mara popped into the forefront of Peter's mind. _I can't have Mara living in another orphanage. She hated that place._

Then his vigilantism stole his attention. _How would I be able to fight crime as Spider-Man if I'm in an orphanage, where I would always be seen by at least one kid if I tried to leave?_ Peter came back to reality when the officer gave her respects and left. After thinking for a bit, the only solution that could come to mind would be to live on the streets. _But I can't just leave Mara on the streets by herself when I go out as Spider-Man. She could get kidnapped, injured, maybe even murdered._

It seemed more and more hopeless, but Peter wouldn't give up. _I will have to live on the streets, and hope that my friend can watch over Mara for the day when I become Spider-Man. Then I'll have to think of something for the night. Wait, what about school?_ Peter froze at this, the knowledge that since he couldn't get a paying job other than the Spider-Man pictures, he wouldn't be able to pay to go to school.

 _How would I get an education. How would_ Mara _get an education and learn to make friends and socialize?_ Peter was frantically pulling at his hair by this point, knowing that it came down to Mara or Spider-Man. _I know Mara should come first, but I have this power that I can use to save people. I could make the streets safer for the little people, and for Mara._

"Big brother?" Peter stopped pacing and looked over at Mara, who was holding something red and blue. _My costume!_ "What is this?"

Peter remembered just throwing it underneath a pile of clothes, too tired to actually try and hide it, since Aunt May never entered his room without his explicit permission. Peter ran upstairs only to find that his room had been cleaned. _Mara must have cleaned my room and found it underneath a pile of clothes_. "Big brother?" Mara called from the bottom of the stairs, gazing in Peter's direction.

"It's nothing, Mara," Peter assured her, walking down the stairs and grabbing the Spider-Man costume.

"It's something," Mara said, catching Peter's attention. "It's Spider-Man's outfit. Uncuw Ben would watch him on TV." Peter shook his head, smiling at her.

"It's just a copy of his outfit, nothing special. I'm not Spider-Man," Peter said quickly, not wanting to put Mara in potential harm for knowing his secret identity.

"I never said you were Spider-Man, big brother, and how would you be abuw to get a copy of the suit that wooks good?" Mara pointed out. Peter face palmed as he should have known that Mara wasn't just a child, she had learned from Peter to be very attentitive to what people say and to her surroundings. Meaning, she was very intelligent to storing information and calling people out on their lies and potential secrets.

Peter sighed at seeing Mara's _evil stare_ , which really looked like she was trying to muster up all her hatred, which wasn't that much to begin with, and use it in her stare. It wasn't exactly terrifying, but it somehow worked in getting people to tell her what she wanted to know. "Fine, I'm Spider-Man." Peter finally relented, knowing he couldn't keep it a secret from Mara any longer.

At those words Mara's evil stare morphed into a bundle of joy wrapped in a cute ribbon, and she bounced around in joy. "My big brother is a hero! He saves peopuw!" Peter shushed her, and Mara giggled slightly before chanting it underneath her breath while bouncing around in circles.

"Aunt May! Uncuw Ben! Guess what!" Mara cried, running into the family room to tell their aunt and uncle about Peter's identity. At once Peter sobered up and watched with wide eyes as Mara rushed upstairs and into their bedroom. She ran into all the rooms, calling for Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

Sooner or later she was panting in front of Peter with watery eyes. "Where's Aunt May? And Uncuw Ben?" Peter hadn't cried before this, but Mara's soft and teary voice broke him. Peter sobbed loudly, crumpling in a heap onto the ground, crying out for Aunt May and Uncle Ben to come back.

"Big brother?" Mara said, her soft voice making Peter cry harder. He failed Mara, he didn't protect Aunt May or Uncle Ben, instead he was the reason they left the house at all. He was the reason why Mara had to go back to the orphanage so soon, after being part of a happy family. Peter sobbed, wailed, and finally just sniffled as he wiped his eyes.

"I'm... sorry, Mara. But Aunt... Aunt May and U-...Uncle Ben aren't coming home..." Peter sobbed, wanting to wail and scream that it wasn't fair that he lost his only parental figures in life, and that Mara wasn't able to have a warm family to come home to every day after school. She should be making friends and working on cool projects. But instead she was homeless and would possibly go back to the orphanage.

"You might have to go to the orphanage," Peter whispered, reminding himself that he was the big brother, he had to stay strong for Mara. Footsteps brought Peter out of his head to notice that Mara was wearing her simple and wet flower dress that Aunt May bought her, and her face was even more pale than it was before.

"N-No!" This was the first time Peter had ever heard Mara raise her voice other than to cry. "I-I can't g-go back the-ere. I can't!" she wailed, swiveling her head as if to look for a way out.

Peter grabbed her by the shoulders and, without thinking, said, "Don't worry, I won't let you go back there." _Well, there goes my only hope for Mara to be living somewhere other than the streets._ But the relief that flooded Mara's face pushed out any guilt or worries that Peter had felt.

"Reawy?" Mara whispered, seemingly delighted that she wouldn't have to go back to the orphanage. Peter nodded, not wanting to go back against his word. "Oh, thank you!" Mara didn't stop, thanking Peter and not letting go of her hug that seemed to want to break his bones.

"Okay, okay!" Peter managed to wheeze out, and Mara let go and hopped around the house reveling in the fact that she wouldn't have to go back to the orphanage. "But there's nowhere else for you to go." Peter had said this in the hope that Thana would change her mind.

Yet Mara stayed firm. "Anywhere is better than there!" This is when Peter began to wonder what on Earth happened to Mara in the orphanage, but Mara began to yawn and her feet had to be dragged across the floor in order for her to stay awake.

"Okay, it's time to go to bed." Peter picked Mara up bridal style and laid her down on her bed, tucking her in and listening to the sound of her breath deepening. Now Peter had to pack clothes and canned foods so they could have food for a while. Not to mention that it was winter in New York, so it was frigid outside.

Taking out Uncle Ben's several old hiking backpacks (Uncle Ben liked to hike when he was younger, okay?!), Peter began to pack extra clothes, some jackets, his Spider-Man outfit, extra spandex to fix his vigilant outfit, canned food, some blankets, a phone and computer charger, the computer and his phone, and some stuff that he and Mara couldn't leave behind. He used up three backpacks by the time he was done. One was used for the clothes and food and technology, another was used for the blankets and whatever little trinkets they didn't want to leave behind, and the third was for old electronic parts and whatever else he could use to build with, like old watches. "I guess I should go to sleep, for the last time here." Peter had laid down on his bed and looked over at the clock on his nightstand. 1:32 am.

That night or early morning Peter was unable to sleep at all and kinda just laid there thinking about their future. His future. Mara's future. How Aunt May and Uncle Ben must have felt in their last moments, all because of him. Peter quietly wept as he thought of these things.

Once the sun had risen, Peter hastily ran amuck collecting the backpacks and checking the house for anything else he could use. Mara used a small purse to hold anything she could from one of the backpacks so Peter could bring the weight down. Surprisingly enough her purse could carry quite a lot and even felt light, so Peter didn't have to worry about Mara bearing too much weight. The purse beought the backpacks down from three to one, and that only carried the blankets and the technological parts that he managed to squeeze into the backpack.

The doorbell signaled the time for them to leave. Peter opened the backdoor and held onto Mara's hand as they reluctantly left the only place they felt they could call home. They ran into the heart of New York, into some back alleys. As the winter chill settled in, they put on some thick coats and shivered together weeping at the loss of their loving parental figures.

"Big brother?" Peter looked over at Mara, wiping her tears away as he did. "I'm scared." Peter hugged Mara tighter, wishing he had the power of the Human Torch so he could keep Mara warm.

"I know, Mara. But I'm here," Peter said, reaching into one of the backpacks and wrapping Mara in a blanket. "I'll keep you safe, okay?"

Mara nodded, snuggling into the blanket further, her breaths tickling Peter's neck. Peter settled against the wall, wanting to fight as Spider-Man again, but the grief of losing Harry had been quite a lot to handle. (Whoops, forgot to tell you!)

Peter had been watching the news before he left, and what had happened made his stomach churn with guilt. Not only had Aunt May and Uncle Ben been in the car, but they had called Harry over the phone and Harry came rushing over to help them. Harry's dad hanged himself over the loss of his son, and Peter had his blood on his hands since he had ran away. If he hadn't decided to run away, they would all still be alive. _It's my fault_.

Peter wanted to take revenge on the drunk that killed them, but the drunk -which was the rainbow haired man- had also died in the accident. Besides, had he stopped the man, everyone would be alive. _I should have stopped that man. I saw him drinking, I should have chased after the drinking man, but I didn't. At least Mara is alright._

The only things that kept Peter from just killing himself was Mara and Spider-Man. Spider-Man can't die, not yet, since he can protect others and make the streets safer for Mara and others. They need Spider-Man, and Peter was not about to stop. So he curled up in a ball, waiting to see what tomorrow would bring.

Time Change (The next day!)

After massaging his back from sleeping on the hard wall, Peter dressed up as Spider-Man and swung Mara around the city. She laughed and whooped, her black hair flowing out of her face and the cold making her cheeks a bright red. At least she had the common sense to cling to Peter as he swung through the city. Peter loved seeing her so happy, but he had to bring her somewhere safe.

"Big brother?" Peter could barely hear Mara over the wind blowing through his ears, so he swung over to the side of a rather tall and weirdly shaped building and clung onto the sides. From the reflection of the mirrored windows, Peter could see Mara beaming and her eyes were wide with excitement. He could even feel her vibrating as adrenaline flowed through her veins.

"Yeah?" Peter moved around a bit so one hand was clinging to the side of the building and the other was ready to grab Mara should she fall.

"Where are you going?" Mara's grip tightened as she looked down at the ground before she relaxed a bit, clearly trusting Peter with her life.

"I'm taking you to an ol-." Peter stopped when Mara straghtened, right as Peter's spider sense flared up and made his mouth form different words. "An orphanage, since you can't live on the streets." Peter beckoned Mara to lean towards where his mouth his and whispered softly, "Don't worry, I'm not actually taking you there."

Mara visibly relaxed, and she yelled, "Thank you, Spider-Man! Thank you!" Peter was definitely confused, for Mara would never say that unless someone could hear. There was no one around close enough to hear them at all.

Then Peter's spidey sense's alarm went off again, and then showed him a picture of a small camera recording him and Mara while they were on the side of the building. Peter swiveled his head around, confused as to why his spidey sense would show him that. Then Peter decided to look up.

 _Fuck!_ Somehow, someway, Peter was clinging to the side of the Avenger's tower without noticing that he was even heading towards the tower in the first place. And JARVIS would have been able to hear them for sure, using the surveillance Mr. Stark had most definitely installed. Peter thanked any overseeing lord above that Mara and his spidey sense stopped him from saying anything someone could use against him.

"You're welcome," Peter said, pretending that everything was alright. "Aren't you excited to be this close to Tony Stark? Or the Avengers?" Mara's eyes appeared as if they were on fire, and she began to visibly vibrate.

"Yeah!" Mara shreiked, almost letting go of Peter. "My big brother says that Mr. Stark is his idaw!" Here Mara relaxed, as if she was tired. "If Mr. Stark makes my big brother happy, then I wike him, too."

Peter forced himself to keep his swelling pride and joy in his mind. All the guilt Peter had felt before putting Spider-Man over Mara faded away, because seeing Mara like this made protecting the streets for her that much more sweeter. Spider-Man could never go away, as long as Mara smiles and is happy.

"What a smart girl." A pang of sadness spread throughout his body as Peter remembered how Uncle Ben would say that about Mara, but Peter pushed that memory down. Uncle Ben would be proud of Peter, that much he was sure of. Like Uncle Ben always said, with great power comes great responsibility.

"Would you like to meet your new home?" Peter asked, tensing up and ready to jump.

He didn't have to wait, for Mara shouted "Yeah!" as soon as he finished that question. Peter dove off of the Avengers' Tower, Mara gleefully laughing on his back. Mara waved at every citizen they passed, shouting "This is awesome!" at every person they passed.

Peter's spidey sense alerted him of a stray bullet, and Peter swung out of the way, carefully maneuvering so Mara didn't get hit. Screams from down below caught Peter's attention, and he saw a truck swerving onto the sidewalk by accident. Civilians were diving out of the way of the truck, but it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.

Peter's mind was split between two things: the civilians' safety, or Mara's safety. Of course, Mara took it upon herself to make that decision, and yelled, "Go get 'em, Spidey!" Not wanting to let Mara down, Peter set Mara onto a nearby rooftop and told her "Stay there!" before leaping off the rooftop in pursuit of the truck. Looking back, Mara waved cheerfully and hopped up and down, clearly supporting Peter's actions.

Peter sadly smiled, before looking back at the truck and diving down to grab a civilian that tripped before setting them on another sidewalk and jumping after the truck. The walkie talkie came to life. "...robbers in green truck on North Bridge Street (I'm also making up random street names, okay? I don't know how streets are named, okay?), heading for Go Down Road..." _Definitely robbers in that truck._

Peter flipped one last time before landing gracefully on top of the green truck. It swerved slightly, but otherwise stayed on coarse. Peter heard yelling "Something's on the truck!" before a head poked out of the passenger window. Spidey sense forced Peter down as a gunshot rang through the street, and the truck turned left.

Peter pretended to get hit and fell off the truck, or so the robber thought. In reality, Peter was clinging to the back of the truck, and the truck turned right before driving onto a bridge. "Did you hit him?" was what Peter heard while he crawled onto the top and crept forward.

"Yeah, he fell off the truck. Maybe he's dead!" Two people began laughing before a third voice cut in.

"You really think it's that easy to be rid of that bug? Go check the roof again!" _There are at least three robbers, and one of them is very skeptical. This is going to be a fun ride!_

"Hey fellas!" Peter poked his head through the window and immdeiately pulled back as the robber from before shot his gun. "Guess someone's trigger happy."

Peter poked his head through the window again, this time webbing the gun before pulling his hand back, ultimately leaving that robber weaponless. Unfortunately for Peter, the robbers decided to pack more than one gun and Peter had to dodge a second bullet before he webbed that one as well, saying, "Haven't you heard of the saying 'Learn from another's mistakes'?" Then Peter clambered onto the hood, jumping into the air and swinging before turning mid air and webbing up both of the front tires, slowing down the truck.

Then he webbed the windshield. The driver screeched like a mad man and slammed the brakes, effectively stopping the truck. The robbers tried to escape, but Peter had webbed two of them to the ground before any of them could blink, and webbed the third one as well. "This is what happens when you call me a bug. Spiders are arachnids! There's a difference!"

Sirens in the distance had Peter hopping onto a wall and scrambling up the side, saluting the criminals and saying "Catch ya on the flipside!" before swinging away. Peter flipped and twisted, whooping for joy as he headed for the building he left Mara on.

Once he got there, Mara bounced and waved both her hands in the air, crying out, "Spidey!" Peter swerved in his swing and backflipped onto the roof, bowing once he landed. Mara's clapping echoed off the walls of the other buildings nearby, and her laughter filled Peter with a sense of accomplishment.

"Hop on!" Peter said, lowering his back so Mara could cling onto his back. Once Mara secured herself, Peter leaped off the building and shot his webs out with a *thwip*. Both children cry out in delight as Peter swings through New York City.

The next time Peter lands, they are now in front of their new "home". The old boxing ring provides enough shelter to keep out most of the cold, so Peter and Mara will be less cold, and Peter can work on his inventions without having to worry that someone could sneak up and hurt Mara. And he can change into Spider-Man without having to look over his shoulder all the time. Along with leaving Mara in a place where she can hide from others easily, and where people are least likely to enter in the first place.

"Get some rest, Mara." Peter spread out two blankets on the floor for comfort, fluffing up their pillows and throwing two more blankets on top of Mara once she was laying on the makeshift mattress. They both huddled underneath the blankets trying their best to warm the other up. Mara's breaths deepened as she entered the dream world, and Peter soon followed.

 **Sorry, I know this story sucks compared to others. But now Curt Conners can't become the Lizard since Peter won't be there to give him the formula. And the Green Goblin _might_ appear, though I doubt it. No, I'm making up my OWN villain, 'kay? If it doesn't say POV Change in a chapter, that means it's in Peter's POV. In case you don't know, POV stands for point of view. This villain may be based on something else, but I wouldn't know.**

 **And sooner or later I'll write little short stories about what happened with Mara and Peter when they were still orphaned and on the streets, since I won't go into that area in this story. Don't worry, Peter and Mara will do fine. For now. Mwahahaha! Until next time!**


	4. I Wiw Never Be Normaw

**Hi, everyone! I'm going to be making up villains, and the only villains that will be "canon" are the ones the Avengers have defeated, and those villains will probably never be mentioned. No, there will be a WHOLE new arsenal of villains and possibly small time heroes. Also, in case people haven't noticed, Mara can't say her "l"s correctly, so she says correctwy instead of correctly. Understand?**

 **Not to mention that I will probably be horrible at humor. Especially dry humor. I drink too much water for my humor to be dry. Word of the day: Klazomania. The compulsion to yell.**

 **Also, the Avengers did not test the Scarlet Witch or this other dude, but gave a test to Peter to join the Avengers. I find that very insulting. So expect the Avengers to get a little too violent and for Mara to SNAP at them. Violently.**

 **Now let's get _riiiiight_ into the... story.**

 **(10 points to anyone who gets the reference. Though the reference pretty much sucks.)**

POV Change

(Just so you know, I am basing the Avenger's personalities off of other fanfictions. So, be warned if they aren't exactly how they are in the movies or the comics or however you see these superheroes. Okay, moving on.)

Pepper sighed as she heard Clint's whining again. "Pepper!" Clint whined. "Tony broke all of my arrows. AGAIN!"

Pepper gave him a dirty look. "What did you do this time?" Clint sputtered and flailed madly.

"What did _I_ do?! I did nothing!" Pepper gave Clint a disapproving frown. "Okay, I may have called him a loser and that his suits were just fancy clothing, but that does not excuse his actions!"

Pepper gave a vampire smile. "I'm sorry, but I actually side with Tony this time." Clint's jaw dropped.

"What?! Why?" Pepper's eye twitched at Clint's voice. She ignored Clint and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a spatula and pointed it at Clint threateningly.

"Stop whining and man up, or so help me I will smack you!" Pepper threatened, gritting her teeth as she did. She walked away from a paralyzed Clint and began pouring pancake batter onto the pan. The music Tony had been blasting in the background stopped, and Tony walked in like a zombie.

Tony dropped into his chair, his head drooping. Pepper glared at him, but said nothing about it as she flipped the pancake. Steve and Natasha walked in as Pepper finished the first 4 pancakes, pouring syrup on one and placing the plate in front of Tony. Steve headed to the coffee maker, and Natasha chatted with Clint, whom seemed to have forgotten about what happened earlier.

"Tony, why didn't I see you last night?" Pepper asked, placing more plates of delicious pancakes onto the table for the others. Tony mumbled something, but Pepper couldn't hear it as she walked over to the pan and prepared her own pancake. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Tony said, louder this time, "I was upgrading my suits." Tony stuffed a big mouthful of the pancakes into his mouth, making him look like a frog.

"All night?!" Pepper flipped her pancake and turned to smother Tony with a glower. "You worked on your suits all night, without sleeping at all?"

And that was the end of Tony.

"JARVIS!" Peoper called to the ceiling as she finished pouring syrup on her pancakes.

A british voice answered from somewhere and nowhere at the same time. "Yes, Mrs. Potts?"

"Ban Tony from his workshop, override password is sunny beach." (Just something I made up, okay?) Pepper pointedly ignored Tony's complaints as she sat down with her plate of pancakes and scooted her chair forward.

"Of course, Mrs. Potts."

"Oh, and JARVIS? Please call me Pepper, it makes me feel old when you say Mrs. Potts." Tony flung his hands upbin disbelief and trudged to the elevator.

"Of course, Pepper." Steve finished his cup of coffee and picked up his dirty dishes to place them into the sink.

"Are you going out on your morning run, Steve?" Glancing up briefly, Steve nodded as he considered bringing his shield with him. Shrugging his shoulders, Steve picked up his shield and headed for the elevator.

Another sigh escaped Pepper's lips as she saw the mountain of dishes. "Well, time to get to work." She pulled up her sleeves and grabbed the sponge. "I should make Tony create a robot to clean the dishes for me, after all why just make battle robots when you can make robots that clean for you?"

POV Change (Back to Peter!)

Peter panted slightly as he ran away from Mara for the umpteenth time. Every time Mara tagged him, she would sprint as fast as her little legs could run away from him, and boy could she RUN. Even Peter, with all of his enhanced speed and durability, began to feel a bit tired as Mara seemed to have unlimited energy or something. At last Peter touched Mara's shoulder and sank into a bench nearby. "I think that's enough tag for one day, Mara."

Mara was staring at Peter in front of him, a wide grin plastered on her face as she didn't even look remotely tired. "Pick me up! Pick me up!" She lifted her arms in the same way as she did the first time Peter saw her, clenching and unclenching her fists.

Peter, despite how Mara ran him dry, still had quite a bit of energy left and lifted Mara up into the air, twirling her around and around and around. Mara squealed in pure happiness and laughed as Peter tickled her sides. "Again! Again!" Mara gleefully said once Peter set her back down on the floor.

And, just like the first time, Mara stumbled about a bit before falling into Peter's legs, laughing all the while. Warmth spread throughout Peter's chest, even though it was winter in New York. He picked Mara up and placed her in his lap as he once again sat on the nearest bench, watching the pedestrians stroll through the park. They all gave Peter and Mara this look, and Peter doesn't mind because he saw himself in the mirror a week back and saw how dirty and... homeless he appeared, which was exactly what he was.

Mara wasn't much better. Her face and whatever skin was open to the air was streaked with dirt and some scratches from earlier this morning. The midnight black hair that had been combed when they still had a home was messed up and sticking in all sorts of different directions that somehow still looked adorable on Mara. Peter was very thankful that Mara had not caught a cold in this weather, though she did still sneeze a few times here and there.

Mara bounced in his lap, waving at anyone who passed by. "Hi!" she said to a blond man jogging past, waving excitedly and jumping out of Peter's lap when the man waved back. "Can we pway?! Pwease?"

The man shook his head, almost sadly as he slowed down his jog. "Sorry, I have to do my morning jog. Maybe later?" Peter knew that the man wasn't going to keep that promise, judging by how he said it. But Peter rolled his eyes as he knew exactly where this was going to go, and he wouldn't stop Mara as he could never say no when Mara gave him that look.

"Then let's pway tag! That way you can stiw run and I can pway with you. Pwease?" _There's that look._ Peter watched from his perepheral vision as the man tried to look away, but was drawn back when Mara would whimper in sadness.

Peter could tell you the exact moment when the man caved in. "Oh, all right. Might as well have some fun, right?" Almost too fast for the normal eye to see, Mara touched the man's arm and dashed off into the distance, tagging Peter as well.

"Catch me if you can!" Peter ran after Mara, not wanting her to get hurt, and he could see the man running after Mara as well. _Guess this man is one that actually means what he says. I half expected him to just jog away and never look back._

Mara weaved through the people just wandering around the park, and when Peter and the man arrived they would whisper to each other. Peter didn't understand, and didn't care enough to. After all, Mara's safety was at stake here. Sometimes Peter would lose Mara, and would follow the sound of her giggles.

They finally caught up to Mara as she swung her feet on top of a tree branch. Somehow she managed to get ice cream while on the run, and just licked it on top of the tree branch. "Come and get me!" she giggled, and Peter's eyes widened as he saw that the tree was covered in poison ivy and thorny vines. Peter mentally noted that a large portion of the vines seemed to be growing on top of burnt ones, but Mara was his main priority, not some thorny plant.

"Mara, are you hurt?!" Peter relaxed as he heard Mara say "No!" The man's body tensed, as if ready to climb the tree. Peter was right as the man grasped the tres's trunk and started to climb, despite the ivy and vines. "What are you doing? There are thorny vines and poison ivy wrapped around this tree!"

The man stopped for a moment, and then said, "I can handle a few scratches and rashes. Besides, how else is she supposed to get down?" Then the man continued up the tres, clenching his jaw as he was about to hit the first bundle of vines.

"Hey, Mara!" Mara's head snapped to Peter when she heard her name called. "You win, can you come down now?" _Ah, NOW she will come down_.

Mara contemplated what her response would be when she finally got what Peter said. "Wait, I win?" Peter nodded, looking at the man as he seemed to have stopped, his fingers just inches from touching the thorny plants and poison ivy. "Yay!" Peter yelped as Mara came hurtling to the ground, her ice cream above her head.

The man leapt off the tree, grabbing Mara before she hit Peter or the ground, and rolled once he hit the floor. Mara giggled when they stopped rolling, and she brushed off a bit of dirt clinging to her coat, some blood smeared on her pants. _That's going to be a bitch to clean off._ "That was fun! Thanks, mister, for pwaying with me!"

"No problem." _I feel bad for the poor man, I can hardly deal with Mara's antics and I expect them._ The man massaged his hands, his face open as he also dusted himself. "I should get back to the tower now."

Peter picked up Mara and placed her on his neck, and said, "Sorry for having to chase Mara around the park, can I do anything to help?" Then Peter felt something slick and wet hit his bare neck. His hand touched it briefly, before pulling his hand back, widening his eyes to a comical size when he saw his fingers. They were stained red.

Mara chose this moment to fall, barely giving Peter or the man time to react. Without thinking Peter burst into action, his spidey sense blaring alarms into his head. Her body landed heavily on his arms, and Peter stumbled a bit, clutching Mara close to his body.

Eyes trailed Mara's body, resting on her leg. (Hey, perverts, that wasn't meant to be sexual! It came out that way and I don't feel like changing it, because I just realized this as I'm going to post it and I don't feel like writing more!) HER blood was seeping through her jeans. "Sorry, big brother," Mara whispered, all of a sudden too tired to do anything. "I didn't mean to get stabbed."

"Stabbed?!" Peter yelled, frantically looking around for a nearby hospital, then he remembered that they were orphans. They couldn't go to the hospital without the foster system alerted and right up their asses. So Peter had to take care of Mara and her wound all by himself. _That would be easy enough, seeing as how I do it all the time, but I have a strengthened immune system and Mara doesn't._

 _So I have to find some disinfection cream for her, since Mara is a regular human child._ A hand rested on Peter's shoulder, causing him to jump. But since his spidey sense wasn't tingling, Peter relaxed his body. Peter turned around to see that the blond man was still there. And that was when he finally noticed the shield.

 _Oh my GOD! IT'S CAPTAIN AMERICA! HIS SHIELD LOOKS SO AWESOME AND SLEEK IN DESIGN, PERFECT FOR BOTH THROWING AND DEFENSE, AND IT'S MADE OF VIBRANIUM!!! AHHHHHH!!!_ Mentally fanboying, Peter managed to keep hinself quiet other than a small squeal.

"Captain America?!" The man's face remained friendly, though Peter suspected that if he started fanboying hard that he would annoy Captain America because his fans are so RUTHLESS. Especially the girls. "What do you want?" Peter cringed at how high and whiny his voice sounded, not to mention still cracking due to his puberty.

Cap took Mara carefully into his arms, minding her leg. "She needs to go to a hospital, now." Cap began walking out of the park, but halted when Peter threw himself in front of Steve. (I got tired of wroting Captain America or Cap, alright?)

"No, she can't go to the hospital! Don't take her there!" Peter demanded, and probably would have fainted or beat himself up for yelling at fucking CAPTAIN AMERICA if he wasn't trying to protect Mara. He stood his ground, staring down Steve as he was shaking from the joy of being able to meet one of his all time favorite heroes.

POV Change

 _Why is this kid so adamant about not going to the hospital?_ Steve took in the boy's haggard look, his dirty face, somewhat clean and slightly torn clothing, and the fading injuries that littered his body. _Ahh, I see now._

"Are you running from your parents?" The boy's face melted into shock, then rage. _Whelp, guess I hit a trigger point._

"I'm didn't run away! I'm fucking homeless!" the kid screamed at him, and the pedestrains walking around them stared at the trio. "I never wanted to be living on the streets anyways!"

"Bi... big brother..." the tiny girl - _Wait, the boy called her Mara earlier_ \- croaked, coughing weakly as she did. "I'm sorry... I nev... never wanted to ma-make you-!" Coughs racked the girl's body, and then Steve glanced at her wound, noting the viens were turning black and sickly.

"We have to take her to a hospital, or at least someone who can take care of her!" Steve didn't care anymore what the boy wanted, this girl was getting treatment.

"But if you do, she'll go to an orphanage! Last time she went to one everyone was bullying her!" That got Steve to stop. "Please," the poor boy begged, even placing his hands together in a pleading gesture. "I don't want her to get bullied again."

 _Well, there's only one option then._ "She still needs treatment, but I guess I'll take you guys back to the tower." The little girl named Mara went still in his embrace, not moving a single muscle except to shake and shiver from the cold biting at her wound. "Can you hold your sister?"

"Yeah..." The boy trailed off, and Steve wasted no time.

"Well, hurry up and take her!" Steve, as carefully as he could, almost shoved Mara into the kid's arms in his hurry, picking up both children as he sprinted for the tower. The kid instinctively curled around Mara, trying his best to keep her warm from the cold, unforgiving air. Her breaths were shaky, and her eyes were closed as she seemed to fight for every breath.

"Hold on to me, okay, Mara?" The boy clutched his sister tighter to himself, shaking slightly as the cold air hit his face as he did his best to shield his sister from that same air. "Please don't die on me, not after we've gotten this far!"

Steve ran a little faster, every breath, every step feeling like they take too long. _Hurry up, Mara's going to die if you don't hurry!_ By the time Steve realized they had entered the tower, he had barged through the front door and the lobby, heading straight for the elevator. But Steve hesitated anyways. _The elevator will take too long, it has always been slow._

A glance to his left gave Steve a glimmer of hope. _I always wanted to know how it felt to run all the way up using the stairs._ Steve made a mad dash towards the staircase, causing the teen to yelp and the child to just whimper. _At least she can still react_. _That's good, right?_

As he ran up the stairs, he could practically FEEL Mara's heart slow down as the black substance in her veins worked their way into the heart. _Don't think, just RUN!_ Steve almost floated up the stairs with how fast his legs moved. He burst into the lab room, knowing for a fact that Bruce would be in the lab. _Fuck, I should have taken my phone with me so I could've called ahead of time. Language._

"Bruce!" Said man yelped as he dropped one of his test tubes onto the floor, said tube shattering upon impact. "Quickly, I need you to help this kid!"

"Have you go-!" Bruce's retort came to an abrupt halt as he saw the small girl twitching, barely breathing as her cheek arteries turned black. "What happened?" was all that came out of his mouth. The teen jumped out of Steve's arms and ran up to Bruce.

"Please, help my sister!" His begging and rather dirty face reminded Steve of those beggars he saw on the street, pleading for money or medicine or food or just anything to help them. "She's going to die! PLEASE!!" Tears ran down the teen's face as he pleaded and begged, his sister dead weight in his arms.

Bruce ran around like a chicken without its head, grabbing this and pulling that, pushing this thing and pulling down a part of the wall to reveal a medical bed and other tools used in a hospital. He grabbed Mara out of the crying teen's hands and gently placed her still form onto the bed. "Like I said before, what the hell happened?"

Steve opened and closed his mouth, trying as best as he could to summarize but nothing popping into his head, just mixed commands about what to do. In the end he just looked at the teen, whom gladly explained as much as he knew. "All I know is that she got stabbed and climbed a tree with poison ivy and some kind of thorny vines to get away from the stabber. That was all we got out before she started to get sick."

"Some kind of thorny plant? She has no rashes, which could just be that she is one of those who don't get rashes from touching poison ivy, but she should have multiple deep scratches if that were the case. But instead her skin only has scratches that are a day old, and those scratches are the only scratches she has, not to mention that her clothing is still relatively intact," Bruce pointed out, disproving the fact that Mara even came into contact with the plant, which would suggest that she used some kind of power to get up onto the branch.

"But she's just a regular human child!" For some reason the boy refused to believe that his sister could possibly have some sort of power. _Besides, she never actually SAID that she climbed the tree, we just assumed she did. It would also explain why she was so FAST, and how much stamina she had in that little body._

"Okay, let's just calm down and help Mara feel better. Is that alright?" This kid glared at Steve when he said that, no, he GLOWERED at him. If looks could kill, Steve would be dead.

"Don't talk to me like a child! Mara could DIE, and you think treating me like a small and clueless child will HELP me?!" The boy stormed out of the medical bay room and tried to enter the elevator. But the elevator wouldn't open.

"Oh, forget it!" He hissed under his breath, sitting down in Bruce's chair as he fumed quietly. Steve's attention was pulled away from the angry teen as Bruce gasped in shock. "What?!" The teen half yelled, having calmed down just a little since he was talking to Bruce, whom didn't make him mad.

"If Mara really was stabbed, which I am pretty sure she was, then the blade was poisoned." The teen's anger faded when Mara's situation just went from bad to worse. "I am able to whip up an antidote, but I need you to hold up the IV. Can you do that for me?" The child nodded and held the IV up for Bruce, too worried about his sister to care that much anymore.

Steve sat in the background as Bruce gathered different chemicals and medicine that he had and took out a syringe, carefully poking it into Mara's skin. He gathered up some black blood from one of the black arteries and dropped some of it onto a slide, looking through a microscope in order to see what the poison was. "Steve, can you patch up Mara's wound for me, I'm a little busy." Steve nodded and rummaged the cabinets around the for some bandages.

"Oh my lord," Bruce breathed, whatever he was looking at put Bruce in a shock of disbelief. Bruce turned to the medicine he had gathered and whipped up some antidotes for the poison, dropping some of it onto the black blood. He went through this process a few times before one of them worked, dissipating the black stuff from the blood immediately, leaving only crimson blood behind.

Steve had found the bandages and had put disinfection cream on the wound when Bruce was done, wrapping the bandages around Mara's left leg as Bruce picked up Mara's right arm and injected the antidote into Mara's arm. Her face, which had been scrunched up in pain up until this point, relaxed as soon as Bruce injected the liquid, her fiery black arteries vanishing one after the other in quick succession. "Alright, that should do it."

Steve faced the teen. "Hey," Steve called, waiting until the teen looked at him before he spoke again. "I'm sorry that I treated you like a child..." Steve hinted that he wanted the kid's name, and he reluctantly gave it.

"Peter." The now recently named Peter's eyes widened and his eyes reflected the look one gives when they are panicking. "Oh my god, I had yelled at Captain America! Oh, great, now I can't live with myself anymore." Peter groaned.

Then Peter faced Bruce, curious to find out more about the man who had saved his sister. "Hey, what's your name?" Bruce glanced up briefly, before bending over the microscope again, another drop of the black blood left in a syringe on the slide.

"It's Bruce. Bruce Banner." To the surprise of the adults in the room, Peter shrieked and made a fan girl squeal (which he would deny later on).

"Oh my god, I was talking to Bruce Banner! I- my- oh gosh- your research on radiation and- I can't even English right now-!" Peter kept starting and stopping a sentence, rambling too much to even make sense at this point.

"Okay, Peter, calm down. We'll talk about that stuff later if you want, but right now I have some news about Mara, okay?" Peter visibly calmed and nodded, though he still tapped his foot on the ground in exhileration.

"There is good news and bad news." His face morphed to one of worry for his little sister, but Peter nodded, wanting to hear the news. "The good news is, she will be okay and she will even be able to walk since the stab wound didn't cut her hamstring. The bad news -and it isn't that bad- is that she has something in her blood that I haven't seen before in any blood I've ever examined, even my own. Oh, and you're still cleaning that mess in the lab, Steve," Bruce added on, much to the chagrin of Steve.

"Wait, what kind of different are we talking about here?" Peter, the poor teen, was shaken, terrified that something bad had happened to his poor sister. _God, he's an orphan for goodness sake. He already has enough on his plate without something bad being in Mara's blood._ Remorse broiled in Steve's gut, along with sympathy for the unfortunate teen caught up in this mess.

"Oh, it's nothing TOO bad," Bruce assured (though perhaps he should work on his reassuring skills). "It's just that Mara seems to have some sort of organism or virus inside her blood. I just need to run some tests that will totally not be harmful, all of them are going to be in the blood only. However, if this organism is infectious and will cause harm, then we need to keep her in a safe place until we find a cure for it, or something that works. Okay?" Peter nodded, feeling somewhat naseous.

"I'll be... right back," Peter said, just before he threw up.

 **Hiya! Yeah, not very subtle on what she is going through, right? I mean, she got homeless, gets scratched every morning, gets stabbed with poison on the blade, and also contracts some sort of virus or organism. I mean, it has something to do with death, right? I mean, that's what her name is saying. Well, you'll just have to wait and see.**

 **Anyways, I'm signing off. Everything either goes too fast or too slow, and I can never find a medium. I love writing this story, but I feel as though I just am not good at writing like other people, the ones who write the good stories. I just cannot WRITE stories, but I feel like I can do better if I can just SHOW the stories to you.**

 **And I have also noticed that I haven't included the Spider-Man version of Peter at all recently. Hopefully once I get over the writer's block I'm about to have I'll include some Spider-Man action and maybe more Avengers. And yes, Clint in this story will be whiny and the humor in this story will be absolutely horrible, but I'm trying my best. I just really wish that I could just make a little cartoon of this or something else to show you the story instead of having to write it out.**

 **But I don't have money or time flowing out of my pockets like money with Tony Stark, so you'll have to stick with this. Unless you hate this story. Then you can just leave. It's fine, really. If I read this and I wasn't the one writing it, then I would leave this story as well. Anyways, peace out!**


	5. Big Brother Wiw Hewp, Right?

**Hi! I'm trying to get over my writing block by just forcing myself to write, so please don't be mad if this chapter sucks even more than the last one. If the cover isn't a chair and looks like a female to you, since I tried to change it, then Mara will look very similar. Only difference is that she's younger and doesn't have blue lights falling out of her hair.**

 **Just to catch you up if the cover didn't change, Mara has long, midnight black hair and very pale skin with bright blue eyes. She is just young and childish, whereas the cover is of a teen or an adult female that I personally based Mara's looks off of her. Just saying.**

 **Well, sorry about blabbering on and on. Time for the story. THIS IS HAPPENING A FEW DAYS AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE LAST CHAPTER.**

A teen's eyelids fluttered for a second, and then slowly lifted. Peter squinted at the bright lights, and he heard a voice with a British accent talking in the other room. Bruce barged through the door, causing Peter to almost jump to the ceiling. Instincts kicked in and Peter just jumped, startled enough to hop out of his skin. "Hey, Peter's awake!" Bruce called out to whoever was in the other room.

"Big brother! You're awake!" Something small and blurred rammed into Peter, causing him to fall backward and yelp. The thing, which Peter recognized as Mara, threw her arms around Peter's waist with her small arm span, trying to give him a hug. "I missed you!" Mara cried, burying her head in Peter's stomach, as if to assure herself that Peter was real.

Steve and Bruce hung out in the doorway, watching all of this with mixed expressions. Bruce's face was much more open and he looked like he was about to cry from the bundle of cute that is Mara, while Steve observed with a thoughtful and sympathetic face. Scanning the machines hooked up to Peter, Bruce nodded to himself. "Everything seems normal, nothing life threatening..."

Peter listened to Mara's breaths as she curled up beside him. Other than an irreguler breath every now and then, it was pretty even and Mara's veins weren't black, so those seemed like good signs. Her big blue eyes twinkled at Peter, and her hug would have been bone crushing if she had a wider arm span. "Is Mara alright?" Peter asked, stroking Mara's hair as he talked. Mara huddled closer to him, as though the room was full of strangers trying to grab her or something.

Steve was the one who answered, not Bruce. "Yeah, Bruce said her vitals were fine and the little virus or organism wasn't acting up again." Peter breathed out a sigh of relief. "Although," and here Peter stiffened, awaiting the news, "Bruce doesn't think the organism is gone, since the black blood he collected earlier hasn't come close to dying within the past few days."

Eyes widened, staring at Steve in disbelief. "I've been out for a few days?!" Peter exclaimed, barely grasping at what Steve implied. _Man, I am so out of it! Gotta get my shit together._

"More like five," Bruce at last joined the conversation, unhooking the machines as he talked. "Mara's been out for two, and she kept disappearing and running back SOO many times." Bruce grunted as he pulled out the last needle out of Peter's right arm. "Sheesh, I can't believe you've both lived relatively well out there without Mara getting injured or killed."

Peter flinched and looked down at his hands, the sensation of guilt washing over him once more. Guilt was familiar to Peter, and nothing could change that. Breaths slightly more panicky, Peter quickly said "I want to take a walk. Now."

"Peter," Bruce began, hands moving as he spoke. "Look at you. You just woke up from something that I don't know yet. Who knows what might happen to you if you go outside."

"You don't understand." _I need to leave, be Spider-Man for a bit. Spider-Man isn't weak, and right now I need to feel strong._ Mara lifted her head to look dead straight at Peter, but Peter wouldn't stop staring at Bruce, not backing down. "I need fresh air."

Steve put himself between Bruce and Peter, and faced Peter, about to say something when a door opened and shut. Laughter echoed off the walls as footsteps neared where the four were located. Then a familiar face, a familiar face to Peter, waltzed in. "How's the kid doing?"

"Mr. S-Stark?" Peter winced at the crack, but he could play it off as still being weak and having just woke up. The man -Tony Stark- spread his arms wide.

"The one and only." _OH MY GOD. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE!_ "Now, why are there two kids in my tower, Bruce?" Tony leaned against the door frame, glancing over at Peter and Thana every so often.

"Wait, Mr. Stark? Your idaw?" Her tiny voice got Peter to look down at Mara, and he never felt more guilty in his life when he saw how Mara looked. Her hair was still messed up, and she was spreading dirt everywhere as she moved, clearly not trusting anyone enough to go and take a bath. Her normally cheery eyes were slightly dulled, and her breaths were a bit more labored nowadays than when they lived with Aunt May and Uncle Ben. "That's him?"

"You got a problem with that?" Tony challenged, stepping a little closer to the two on the bed. Mada inched a bit closer to Peter, but she stood -or sat?- her ground. It looked hilarious, a 6 year old trying their best to glare but pouting instead at a fully grown man that is trying to keep a stony face.

"Yes. You're too ugwy to be Peter's idaw!" Silence trickled into the room as everyone sort of gaped at Mara's outburst.

Tony exaggeratedly placed his hand on his chest and took a few steps back. "I am not ugly!" Tony cried out, sounding rather offended. "Have you looked at yourself lately?"

"I actuawy have, mister." Mara's face formed into a mocking face. "And I feel like I have to say that that shirt is absowutewy atrocious. Even Spidey underwear wooks and smells better than that thing you call clothing." Mara pinched her nose and gagged, with Tony sputtering.

"Okay, have you ever heard of respect, little girl?!" Mara turned her head back to Tony, hand still pinching her small nose.

"Have YOU ever heard of respect? Even Peter admits that you are more arrogant than a peacock, and he just adores you." She huffed, and hopped off the bed. "I thought you'd at weast be bigger, but you're just an awd man with too much ego that isn't good enough to be Peter's idaw."

Tony's jaw dropped slightly as Mara skipped out the door, yelling "Can I have some food, Mrs. Potts?" as she turned the corner. Then he clenched his jaw, his expression priceless, but Peter was too shocked by the fact that he was in the tower in the first place. _FUCKING HELL! I'M IN TONY'S TOWER! Wait, 5 days?_

"Wait, have I really been out for five days?" Peter looked between Bruce and Tony Fucking Stark. Bruce shuffled as his gaze landed on his feet, nodding as his body language suggested he wanted to hide or run. "How much of a nuisance has Mada been?" Tony's face just turned deadly and his fist clenched and unclenched.

"I'm glad I was out for about a week. I do wonder, what exactly did this toddler do?" Bruce's face turned slightly green as both gazes turned on him, and Tony took a step back. "Woah, Bruce. Is it code green?"

 _What? Code green? What, like vomit, because that is how nauseous this guy looks like._ Bruce's body convulsed for a split second, and then he was fine, shaking his head as he muttered about some science project - _Which I SOOO have to do woth him before I leave-_ before hurrying out of the room.

"What was that?" Nothing. No glance, no reaction, nothing. Tony just left the room as well, leaving the door tantalizingly open. _Well, they never said I COULDN'T get up and leave._

That was all there was to it. No climbing through the vents, sneaking around the Avengers, hacking into JARVIS, or backflipping off the roof. Peter just left the tower to be Spider-Man again. Only to turn right back around as he forgot his backpacks. "Hey, did any of you touch my backpack?"

"Nope!" Peter yelped at the sudden voice right behind him, almost clinging to the walls in fright. _Thank GOD my spidey sense keeps me from doing anything stupid that could reveal who I am. Although it doesn't keep me from doing anything stupid in general._ "I made sure they didn't!" Mara giggled at the chocked face Peter had before rummaging through the electronic backpack, pulling out a culmination of random parts mashed together by yours truly, Mara herself.

"What is that?" Random stuff was just nailed together and melded so it looked like a heap of metal garbage.

Mara smiled at him and winked, giving Peter the chills. "You wiw see!" she chirped, and Peter was hit with a wave of concern. _Oh, God no. Gotta leave, now._

His strides were longer, and he almost ran into the elevator doors, pressing the elevator button almost continuously. Then Peter took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down and not break the button. A few more breaths, and Peter felt almost relieved, until he heard a whirring, and the hunk of metal turned out to be a disguise for what Peter had been working on in secret. It was highly dangerous, and it was in the hands of an intelligent six year old that had no sense of morals or reasoning and could use a lot of things electronic. _Fuck._

The elevator dinged, and the doors silently slid open. Peter practically jumped in and waited for the doors to close, beating his fingers against the back of his other hand. "Where are you going, sir?" a British voice said from nowhere, and Peter's nerves went haywire. "Didn't mean to scare you, sir."

"No, it's okay," Peter breathed, sighing as he realized it was JARVIS, Tony Stark's AI. "I want to go to the lobby." Calming music played from the speakers as the elevator descended slower than any other elevator Peter had ever been on. Peter fidgeted, tapping his foot and humming a tune that Peter couldn't quite remember the name of.

These seconds stretched to hours, and Peter rushed out once the doors finally open, feeling like he could breathe again. "God, that elevator is slow," Peter muttered to himself, brushing off his clothes and then realizing that he was still dirty, smelled awful, and had stayed in the same clothes for more than a week and was very sweaty. "Shit, I should've thought about how dirty I am. Guess I've gotten used to it."

Opening the doors felt like freedom to Peter. He felt like he was invincible, that he could do anything. His spidey sense pulled the alarms again, but his body didn't move by itself like it usually did. Instead, he got pictures of things he had never seen before.

Most blinked by rapidly, too fast for Peter to even acknowledge before the next one flashed, but some of them stuck around long enough for it to be ingrained in Peter's mind before moving on. Peter opened and closed his mouth, wanting to scream, but it died in his throat long before it could even escape his mouth. Then one of them stayed on, and wouldn't move on to the next, and Peter's breath caught in his throat as he saw the scene. Each and every picture was blurred and more fluid, solid enough that he could sort of make out everything, but blurred so Peter knew that it was not what he was really seeing.

The only pictures Peter could remember were the Avengers with him. Then he was bloody on the ground, Captain America in full gear above him, reaching for his mask. And now, there was absolute chaos in New York City. (When I mean chaos, I mean chaos.)

Blood coated the streets as the civilians became savages, blood leaking from their eyes and sometimes mouths and they all moved with a purpose. Angry black veins covered their faces and arms, the whites in their eyes turned black and their screams were otherwordly. There was a crowd of them, and more were coming, and they all were crowded around some people fighting for their lives. And then a shield whooshed through the air, the familiar red and white almost blinding Peter. Even with all the blood, the sun shone bright and cheery over the whole thing, and then Peter saw IT.

A scream tore out of his throat, and darkness swallowed Peter. He flailed as he almost fell off a roof top, balancing himself before he could tip over and fall. _Wait, how did I get here? And I was out for THAT long?!_ The sun was setting, and the dusky red glow illuminated the sides of the buildings, and windows one by one turned on their lights.

"This is weirdly like Venom," Peter thought out loud, as he remembered when Venom was still his friend how he would black out only to find himself somewhere else. _But Venom never gave me images when I was unconscious. All he ever did was fight crime and severely injure some criminals._

His train of thought screeched to a stop when a scream echoed off the walls of the buildings. "God, why can't crime just relax for a day or two? That would be amazing," Peter complained as he dived off the building and shot a web onto the side of one. Despite complaining earlier, Peter whooped as he backflipped a few times in the air. "I'll never tire of this!" Peter yelled as he swung above the streets.

He landed onto the side of an alley, crawling around listening for anything suspicious. A small thump caught his ears and he peered around a corner, watching as a woman fell onto the ground, twitching ever so slightly as she hurled a big ball of vomit onto the ground. Slightly disgusted, Peter kept a safe distance as a man walked into his view, looking down on the woman before kicking her in the sides, aiming a gun at her head. "No, PLEASE! DON'T KILL ME!"

The woman shrieked and curled as the man took a step back from her, gun trained on her head. "Just keep quiet and this will all be over before you know it!" The man's hands were shaking, and his grip wasn't used to a gun, clearly showing that this was his first time wielding a gun.

"No! It's not fair that I have to die! I WANT TO LIVE!" Crimson tears streamed down her face, and the same liquid trickled out of her mouth as well. A wave of a metallic smell hit Peter, and that was when he realized it was blood. "Don't kill me, please," she whimpered, her lip quivering ever so slightly.

"It's for the good of the city." Peter shot out a web just as the man's grip on it tightened, and he pulled the gun out of the man's grasp. "Who are you?" Peter almost face palmed when the man put two and two together. "Oh, you're Spider-Man! Dude, I'm such a big* fan!"

And that was how Peter found himself shaking some random stranger's hand who was about to murder a poor lady clutching her stomach. "Do you shoot webs out of your hands? How do you stick to the walls? Oh, can you teach me how to backflip?!" The man ranted and ranted and wouldn't stop for the world until Peter shushed him.

"Can you just tell me why you were about to kill her?" Peter asked, gesturing to the lady that stumbled as though she was drunk. But since Peter couldn't smell the use of any alcohol -other than rubbing alcohol- he knew that she was most likely dizzy and weak. The lady fell to the floor and coughed up a bit of blood, and Peter moved to help her.

"STOP!" The man pulled on Peter's arm, and caught Peter by surprise, so Peter stumbled backward a bit. "Don't walk up to her, she's infected." And that was when he noticed the swarm of black veins on the girl's bare arms. Her tank top and yoga pants didn't really hide anything, so Peter was surprised that he hadn't caught on sooner.

"How many people have this?!" Peter shook the man by the shoulders, barely restraining himself from screaming in the poor dude's face.

"Right now only she has it, but we have to kill her quickly." The man lunged for the gun, and aimed it at the lady's face again. Her wide brown eyes widened further in fear as the man pulled the trigger.

Peter had no time to react as he ran up to the man and diverted the gun's aim. The bullet bounced off the walls in the distance, and all were breathing heavily. "Why would you do that?!" Peter yelled, pulling the gun away from the man and webbing it high up on the wall.

Then he webbed the man's wrists to the wall. "Stick around, will ya?" Peter breathed out as he rushed over to the lady's side. She was breathing irregularly, and her whole body was shaking. "Hey, it's okay. No one's going to hurt you."

No response ever came out of the lady's mouth, for she collapsed right then and there in the alleyway. "Hey, are you alright?" Peter shook her shoulders, and listened to her heartbeat. It was slowing down, and so were her breaths. "Don't die yet!"

"Shoot her, now!" Peter's eye twitched at how the man was so stubborn. "Before it spreads."

"Before what spreads?" That was all that Peter got to say to the man, before the woman, sprung up and lunged at Peter. "Hey, I know I am fabulous, but that doesn't mean you get to go savage!" Peter bent backward as the woman slashed at his face, kicking her stomach as he somersaulted away.

A unearthly screech climbed out of her throat, and Peter was taken back to the dream for a moment before spidey sense kicked it out and forced him to jump out of the way, for the lady had charged at him, making this creepy ticking sound. Peter raised his fists into a fighting stance, but he wasn't expecting for the woman to change targets. She jumped, and her jagged nails reached their target, slashing open the man's throat as he struggled and screamed, fading off to a gurgle before his body skumped forward.

Peter didn't even register twisting the lady's neck as he screamed from the guilt of being the man's death. Then the corpse fell to the floor, and he cried further, screaming and hiccuping as the reality hit him. "I'm a murderer," Peter whispered, backing away from the two corpses.

A whine rang through his ears as the blood coating his hands felt heavier, the weight soul crushing as his hands were coated in the blood of something he could have prevented. He backed away from the alley, his breaths becoming more panicked, and his flight instinct activated. As Peter blinked, he saw the world shifting, and when he opened them again he saw the dream, more sharper and realistic than before.

Everything played out, except everything was solid and gave Peter the feeling that this was more set in stone than before, like it was a game with a few choices and now instead of it just being a possible future it was now permanent. It was still a bit blurred, but the pictures were so much clearer. The only one that was still blurred was the last one.

Blood still coated the streets, only now the streets were littered with black organs and body parts, severed heads giving him an angry look, whispering, "How could you not kill her? You have failed us." Then, someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned around only to see IT perfectly clear and not remotely blurred, IT's sharp teeth glistening with crimson blood.

 **"Hello, Peter. Won't you join me this fine evening?"** Peter's mouth opened, and the scream began its fast climb up his throat.

Instead of screaming, he gasped as he lifted himself off a bed. _Wait, what? How — What? How did I get here?_ He looked down at his clothes while patting his face, sighing in relief that he was dressed in actual clothes and without his mask.

 _What if someone found out my identity? What do I do then?! How would I protect Mara!?! I —_ "Peter, you appear to be having a panic attack."

This time Peter did scream, falling off the bed in an attempt to frantically search the room for whoever spoke. "Please, calm down, Peter." A sigh escaped his lips as he at last recognized JARVIS' voice. Peter counted to ten, breathed in, counted again, breathed out. His heart slowed down, pumping at a much calmer and slower pace.

"Tony has left you a message. Would you like to hear it?" Peter didn't pay attention all that much, more worried about the fact that he was now dressed in new clothing that he knew he didn't own.

[Hey, kid!] Startled, Peter backed up into a corner, high on alert from how suddenly Tony's voice filled up the room. [Why don't you have a leash or something for your sister?! She fuc-! {Language!} Oh, shut up! This is my tower, I can say what I want to say!]

Peter stifled a laugh as he heard Steve scold Tony for using vulgar language in the same building as a small child. [Now get out of my room! *click* God, Mara must really have wormed her way into Steve's heart, though he always was a softie. Wait, what was I talking about?

[Oh yeah! MARA HAS BEEN TEAMING UP WITH CLINT TO FUCKI — Hey, Bruce, don't you give me that look. BRUCE! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TELL ON ME!!! {TONY!!!} Shit. Before I go, get a leash for your sister since she somehow leaves without even JARVIS knowing, and he's a fucking AI! {WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT LAN-!?!}]

Peter was rolling on the floor laughing by the time the recording stopped. "Peter! You're finally awake!" Peter looked up at the sound of Bruce's voice, and a grin was plastered on Bruce's face, although Bruce's eyes gave away how he really felt.

"Where were you?" It took awhile for Peter's brain to catch up. Once it did, though, Peter gulped and fidgeted with his collar.

"You missed the whole thing! Tony was about to enter his room when the ceiling sprayed fire extinguisher in his face! And when he tried to clean it off none of the sinks worked and the bathrooms were all closed off to Tony! Glitter was sprayed all over him and air horns were placed under all of the office chairs and were a hell of a pain to take out! God, that kid was BRILLIANT!"

Peter's jaw dropped as he stared at what he immediately recognized as Hawkeye. "What did you say her name was?" Hawkeye asked Bruce, scratching at his neck, arrows hitting each other in his quiver.

"Hawkeye?" _There is no FUCKING way I am looking at Hawkeye right now!_ Hawkeye frowned and got a good look at Peter.

"First of all, you need a shower. God, you smell as though you were in a dumpster." Peter blushed and winced as memories came rushing forth. "Secondly, it's gonna be Clint, since you're sister is absolutely AWESOME. Thirdly, what's your sister's name again?"

"Mara..." Peter said, still in shock. "Wait, where are the showers? I haven't exactly had the opportunity to look around the tower yet."

"Oh, sure. It's right in here." Bruce walked over to the door over on the other side of the hallway, flinging it open for Peter to see the bathroom. (I'm not going to go into detail how this thing looks, but let's just say it was extremely fancy.)

"Have fun in the bathroom! Don't worry, I'll keep Mara out for you." Clint winked, and walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Peter sighed, and then sniffed his shirt, appalled by the odor emitting from it. "Clint wasn't kidding about the smell." His entire body was still dirty, looking as though he had walked through a samd storm, except with dirt. The only part of him that was clean was his clothing and his hands.

Hands...

Peter shook his head as he began to undress, placing his once clean clothing onto the counter, folded and all.

Knock! Startled, Peter jumped at the sudden knocking. "Can you open the door, big brother?" Her little feet padded away as more footsteps thundered closer.

"Where the fuck is that little brat?!" A snicker came out when Peter heard Steve yell "Language!"

Though he wasn't laughing when Tony began banging on his door. "Mara, I know you're in there. Open this damn door!"

"Tony! Say another cuss word and so help me I will ground you for a month!" This time a female voice called out, one on the tip of Peter's tongue, yet Peter couldn't exactly place it.

"I don't care right now. JARVIS, open this damn door!" Peter's eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed the white towel and wrapped it around himself as the door opened. Silence. "...Well, this is enbarrassing."

Peter yelled, "Get out!" shoving Tony and slamming the door, blushing heavily at the encounter. For no reason, Peter felt like crying, breaking down into sobs and crying. As the water rushed to meet the floor of the shower floor, Peter quietly sobbed to himself as he desperately tried to wash the memory of the guilt away.

But nothing worked. Nothing would work. Nothing COULD work. It would remain as a scar, something that can never go away, more faces to haunt him every night.

IT smiled. No, it grinned in the sadistic way. The long blue nails scraping against the wall as IT leaned over to him and whispered, **"Thanks for doing the work for me. It would have been such a hassle to kill those without you."**

IT laughed, and IT's laughs were like jingling bells, so pretty and yet Peter could hear the underlying insanity the beauty hides. Peter wept harder at the memory, curling up in a corner and rocking back and forth as he sobbed. Even as he started to clean himself off his tears never stopped coming.

IT never stopped smiling, even as the blood dripped down.

 **Sorry that this took FOREVER! I had a little bit of a writing block, and Iwas watching Maze Runner, so sorry if this seems a little too much like that virus. Trust me, I didn't mean for it to be so similar, but I kind of like that idea. Where this virus could extend into the future, when Maze Runner takes place. This could be awesome!**

 **But, to let you know, this virus and the Maze Runner virus are different. They just so happen to be similar, but they are very different as well. It could take a while to prove, but it is different.**

 **Anyways, sorry this chapter sucks as well. Sorry my story sucks. Hope to write faster. And I may be writing a VERY weird story about Maze Runner. Ask no questions. Bye!**

 ***I kept writing bug instead of big. I was going to have Peter say "Spiders are arachnids!" but I decided not to and somehow managed to write big.**


	6. I Can’t Stop

**Just so you know, IT wasn't actually in the shower with Peter. IT was just a hallucination. There is no weird romantic or stalker like relationship between IT and Peter. Okay? Good.**

 **Now, let me just say this outright: MY STORIES SUCK! I have very dark and gory plots, and if written properly they could become really good games or stories or maybe even a movie or anime or something like that. My friends and some teachers have agreed on that, but I just can never write or show it well. There is just so much going on in my tiny brain that I just can never write it well.**

 **So, sorry if this has sucked and the only thing keeping you here is Mara's adorableness or something. Also, my humor sucks, so don't expect Peter's humor to be well done in this story. I have a weird sense of humor as well, so that doesn't help. So, lots of things here are just screwing this story over. Sorry I'm not good enough.**

 **And now that I am rereading what I wrote, I just realized that the thing in this universe is suspiciously like the virus in the Maze Runner series, and I SWEAR that I am not trying to make it so similar. I guess since I love Death Cure so much that it has been somewhat influencing my work? But I am not changing it now, because I actualky have a way for this to go so that it isn't exactly like that virus. Oh, and you don't have to go and watch the movies or read the books in order to understand what is going on in this fanfiction, so yeah.**

 **Sorry to blab on and on. Let's get this story started! Or something like that...**

POV Change

There was something just... WRONG with Mara. That much Bruce could tell. Mara just acted OFF at times, and Bruce thought that might have to do with the thing inside Mara's blood.

When Bruce looked at the black blood, it wasn't dying. Not until the virus died would the thing die. Yet every time Bruce would look at the blood through a microscope, the thing was still there. In fact, the thing was wrapped around each blood cell and attacked anything Bruce sent in that could potentially harm the cell. It was just weird, like the Other weird, except less destructive.

Bruce walked into the TV room and sat down with his black coffee just as Tony sauntered in when the elevator doors slid open. "JARVIS, turn on the TV," Tony called to the ceiling. "Oh, and make me some coffee."

"Of course, Mister Stark." The coffee machine turned on at the same time as the TV. Bruce watched whatever was on the TV, which was the news channel.

"JARVIS, please call me Tony. It's just WEIRD for you to call me Mister Stark," Tony groaned out as he fetched a coffee mug from the cupboard.

"Understood, Tony." Bruce paid no attention as he leaned closer to the TV, fully engrossed with what the news caster was talking about. Though the pictures were gruesome, Bruce's gaze stayed locked onto the screen.

"Hey bud, whatcha watching?" The couch moved a bit as Tony plopped down onto the sofa, a sigh escaping his lips as he took a sip of his coffee. "What the fuck IS that?" Tony's head reared back in disgust as his eyes couldn't look away from the scene on the TV.

"...found in an alleyway. From what it looks like, the man's throat had been torn open by some kind of claws, and the lady's neck appears to be twisted. The police are still identifying who these two are, and are trying to figure out why they were murdered so severely. Recently a few people have been noticing that their veins and arteries..."

Bruce felt like vomiting on the floor as he saw the alleyway the man and woman had been killed. The guy's throat was sliced open and all the muscles and everything inside the throat had been displayed on the floor, and right by the lady's corpse. Her neck had been twisted violently, her head almost decapitated, and blood stained her hands and clothing. _Whichever villain did this is fucking disgusting._

Tony gagged a bit, clapping a hand over his mouth. "That is disgusting. Whoever did that obviously is new to the assassin world." Bruce nodded, speechless and sick to his stomach.

"...Reports of people brutally murdered in alleyways have increased by 30%. Don't go into any alleyways. And try not to go outside after dark. Now, onto..." Bruce stood up all of a sudden, spilling some coffee onto the rug.

"Hey!" Tony yelled. "Do you know how expensive that rug is? And how hard it is to wash? I mean, I never washed it, but still!"

"More people are getting murdered in alleys now? And we have never heard of this?" Bruce kept his voice down, since people —and especially Mara— are trying to go to sleep at this point. And nobody wants Mara to wake up in the middle of the night. (Just trust me on this.)

"Calm down, it's just a few muggers getting more drunk," Tony said emotionlessly, taking another sip of his coffee. Bruce took the coffee out of his hand and sniffed it. _Yup, alcohol._ "Hey!"

Bruce lifted it out of Tony's reach. "Calm down, it's only coffee." Bruce stood up and poured out the entire mug into the sink. "Now, why are people dying more often now?"

"Why would you do that?!" _Good, Tony's voice isn't slurred._ "I was drinking that!"

"Keep your voice down or so help me I will sic Mara on you!" Tony wisely decided to keep quiet, but gave Bruce a death glare.

"You do that, and I'll ban you from your labs," Tony hissed, but quieter this time. "And I'll convince Mara that you have candy!"

"Who has candy?!" Tony and Bruce yelped, backing away from the source of the voice. Even as Mara rubbed her eyes they sparked with energy and excitement, squeezing the teddy bear Pepper had given to her as a present tightly. It was already a bit worn up and dirty, but Mara loved the thing and wouldn't let anyone other than Peter and Pepper take it from her.

"No one, Mara." Bruce walked up to Mara and picked her up, heading to Mara's room. "Now go back to bed."

"But I want candy!" Her whining voice was loud, and Bruce silently hoped that nobody would wake up. "And I want to sweep with big brother!"

Bruce sighed internally. _Why can't Tony ever take care of her?_ "If I let you sleep with Peter tonight, will you go to sleep?"

Mara nodded ecstatically. "Yeah!" Bruce placed a finger on his lips, and Mara giggled and repeated his action. "Shh!"

Bruce knocked on Peter's door. "Peter, are you awake?" Bruce whispered, half expecting Peter to be asleep and half expecting Peter to not be able to hear. To his surprise, the door creaked open and Peter blearily stood in the doorway.

"What is it?" Then Peter saw Mara in Bruce's arms, and he sighed. He took Mara out of Bruce's arms, picking the teddy bear off the floor when Mara dropped it. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, that was it." Peter nodded and closed his door. "Goodnight." He heard a jumbled mess of words from behind the door, and then the creak of the bed.

Bruce turned around, and almost bumped into Tony. "Hey, how's the demon of a child?" Bruce crossed his arms and huffed, sort of mad at how Tony described Mara.

"If you got yourself together, Mara would be much less annoying." Bruce tucked his hands into his pockets and walked back into the room with the TV. (I'm going to call this the den. Is that okay?)

He grabbed his cup of coffee and took a sip of it, entering the elevator and headed for the science lab floor. Tony's words from before just kept echoing in Bruce's mind. "Calm down, it's just a few muggers getting more drunk." _People are getting murdered like that, and Tony just doesn't care enough to do something about it?_

As Bruce entered his lab and experimented on his blood again, another thought crossed his mind. _I never thought about stopping the petty crime._ Bruce was so distracted he almost didn't notice something weird inside his blood. Almost.

A dot of black caught his attention. _What the... Is my microscope dirty again?_ A quick look and swipe and the black spot was still there. Not only that, but the spot was wiggling, moving around and wandering through his blood.

His mouth hung open as Bruce recognized the organism inside the blood. It was the same as the black stuff from Mara's blood. Not only that, but it was FIGHTING the green from the Other. And WINNING.

Bruce looked on as the black stuff began spreading, conquering everything, and the rest of Bruce's blood in the test tube was slowly turning black. "What is this?" Bruce ran over to the tray holding the many test tubes of blood he had experimented on, searching for Mara's blood. But when he found it, the blood was red.

"How is this possible?" Bruce observed the rest of the tubes closely, and his heart briefly stopped. Each and every test tube of blood near Mara's blood started turning black, despite the fact that Bruce had never opened those tubes in EIGHT MONTHS. There was NO WAY anything could have gotten inside those tubes, yet the black stuff had somehow gotten inside.

Bruce staggered a bit, staring at Mara's tube of blood. He brought it over to his work desk, and placed a drop of it onto a slide. When he looked into it, there was no black stuff. Not. A. Single. Strand. Left.

Bruce began panicking, and pulled open the drawer, not paying attention to the fact that his skin started flashing green. He pushed some things in the drawer to the side, before pulling out a syringe and poking it into his arm. He drew some blood out, quickly wrapping a bandage around it —and applying some infection cream— and put it into a tube. He watched the red turn green, and then he held his breath. And waited.

After some time had passed, Bruce had calmed doen and, checking the clock, did a double-take. 17 minutes had passed. "Shit, I still need to test that DNA Tony had sent me." Bruce rushed about the room, not noticing the blood rippling, or the black spot forming.

POV Change

Peter opened his eyes, blearily rubbing them as the sunlight filtered in. Something snuggled against him, and Peter smiled softly when he saw Mara breathing softly, relaxed and smiling. Eyeing the room, Peter saw the teddy bear on the floor. Moving slowly so as to not disturb Mara, Peter stretched out and reached for the teddy bear, barely managing to grab onto its ear. He gave the teddy bear back to Mara's sleeping figure, and made to start the day.

"Big brother?" Peter stopped and watched as Mara got up as well, yawning and stretching her back and arms. She scratched at her hair, and Peter laughed a bit.

"Come on, you little monkey! Time for a bath!" Mara giggled and crawled away from Peter, managing to wriggle her way underneath the bed, where Peter couldn't reach. "Come on, you don't want me to go after you!"

Mara crawled over to the other side of the bed, laughing as she observed Peter's attempts at grabbing her. "This is just unfair by this point." Peter jumped onto the bed, listening for where Mara's laughter was coming from.

He dropped down onto the floor and reached out for Mara, grabbing her waist and pulling her out from underneath the bed. She squirmed and writhed, her laughs never dying out. "I don't want to take a bath!" Peter huffed and opened the bathroom door.

"Hey, Mara." He snapped his fingers, garnering Mara's attention. "If you take a bath, I'll give you candy."

Her eyes sparkled with joy, bouncing around in excitement. "So aw I have to do is take a bath? No probwem!"

Peter chuckled as Mara rushed to her room, coming back with clothes in her arms and heading to the bathroom. (One with a bathtub, mind you.) The bathroom door shut with the click of the lock, and Peter, satisfied, grabbed his backpack and headed for the elevator. He was excited to try out his new web shooters, as he upgraded them to make his organic webbing stronger and faster.

A hand on his shoulders stopped him, and Peter turned around to see Bruce behind him. "Hey, can I talk to you for a bit?" Peter, seeing no problem with that, shrugged and allowed himself to be herded into the elevator.

"So, what are we talking about?" Peter asked, his voice cracking slightly. Bruce told JARVIS where to go before indulging Peter with an answer. Or a sort of answer.

"Where's Mara?" Peter raised an eyebrow, confused as to why Bruce would ask for her. "I need her to know for sure if what I think is happening."

"Know what?"

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, like usual. "Come over here," Bruce beckoned, guiding Peter through the somewhat familiar lab over to his work desk. He held up a test tube filled with crimson blood. "Do you know who's blood this is?"

"Uhh..." Bruce didn't wait for an answer, instead holding a dropper and sucking up some of the blood before letting a droplet drop onto the slide.

"This is Mara's blood. Go on, look." Peter gave Bruce a disbelieving look before gazing through the eyepiece. All Peter could see was regular blood cells and maybe one or two white blood cells.

"All I see is regular blood," Peter said.

"Exactly!" Bruce pulled out a few more test tubes, and these were conpletely black. "The thing inside her blood has disappeared from her blood for no reason. And these are test tubes of blood I got from Tony, that I didn't open for eight months."

"More black blood, okay. But what does that blood have to do with Mara?"

"These tubes of blood were just regular human blood that was stored near Mara's tube of blood. When I was searching for Mara's blood, her blood was red and these were turning black." Bruce took the slide with Mara's blood and washed it off, drying it before storing it in his slide container.

"So whatever was in Mara's blood somehow got into those tubes and completely left Mara's blood?" Peter concluded, unsure of what he was saying. "But how would it be able to go into those tubes that haven't been opened or exposed to?"

"It probably is be able to spread by air and some other methods." Bruce pulled out a tube of some sort of green and black fluid inside a test tube out. "This is my blood that I had left out for a while before storing it. And then I noticed something."

"Wait, why is your blood green and black?"

"Because of the Other, or what you would call Hulk. Now pay attention," Bruce added when Peter's mouth gaped. "When I watched it for 17 minutes, nothing was happening, meaning that the thing wasn't infecting me yet. Then when I finished working on that DNA thing that Tony wanted, I saw that a black spot had been forming."

"So either it was infecting you, which it wasn't, or it is airborne and can stick around for a while before finding the next target. So, why do you want Mara's blood?" Bruce dropped his hands onto Peter's shoulders, staring him right in the eye.

"Don't you get it?! I need to know if the thing actually died, and if it didn't why it died now of all times. Not only that, but she could potentially be spreading this thing to others by running around the tower unsupervised." Peter narrowed his eyes slightly, pushing Bruce's hands off his shoulders.

"What, are you going to lock Mara up or something? Place her in quarantine? Last I checked, she was allowed to wander despite the fact that this thing was inside of her. Why didn't you quarantine her then?"

"Because it was protecting her, not killing her!" Bruce yelled, and Peter shrunk back as Bruce continued. "Therefore I thought that it was safe enough for her to be able to go wherever she wanted to go. But now I know different, that this THING doesn't protect and actually will kill you!"

Bruce breathed heavily, calming himself down before he said, "Do you understand now? Your sister has the potential to kill not only New York, but everyone this thing comes in contact with. I need to know what's different about her from our blood, why this thing is protecting her blood instead of our blood, and for that I need more of her blood. And I need her to stay in quarantine, so the thing can't spread, okay?"

Peter, deep in thought, hesitated to reply. "Bruce," Peter began. "I just want Mara to live a normal life. That's all. I want her to live a happy and struggle free life, and I don't want her to feel trapped."

Peter looked at Bruce, his brown eyes welling up and wide. "Can't you just find out without having Mara in quarantine?" Peter's gaze fell down to his feet, knowing exactly what Bruce would say no matter what.

"I'm sorry, Peter," Bruce said. "But I have to quarantine her. It's for the greater good."

Rage swelled up inside Peter, but he shushed it and pushed it down as best as he could. "Okay," Peter breathed, reminding himself that Bruce wouldn't hurt Mara. He then excused himself from the lab and hurried into the elevator, asking JARVIS to bring him down to the lobby. Peter tapped his foot as the elevator seemed to take longer than usual.

The elevator opened up at last, and Peter sprinted outside and breathed in the fresh air. He hid in an alley and quickly changed into his suit. As soon as Peter pulled the mask over his head, he felt more free, a different person. Peter began climbing the wall after he put on his costume? Suit?

(I'll call it a costume, because suit makes it sound fancy.) Peter finally made it onto the roof and kinda just sat there, turning on the police walkie talkie thing and listening to what crimes are happening. Surprisingly nothing happened for the first hour of patrol, which was highly unusual for New York.

 _The whole situation kinda reminds me of Maze Runner, where they had to find out what was different about the immune's blood and the normal blood. Now that I think about it, they are pretty similar._ "...monster is on west 72nd street and is on a path for central park. Shoot on sight, I repeat, shoot on sight."

"Now things are getting interesting!" Peter whooped, hopping off the roof he was on and swinging through the city. "Man, this is awesome no matter how many times I swing!" As Peter swung, he heard the walkie talkie saying, "The monster changed directions and is now on Amsterdam Avenue."

Peter grinned in delight, also changing directions and using a shortcut he knew would take him to Amsterdam Avenue. Peter swung through many alleys and paused a little bit to web up some muggers and telling the person about to get mugged to call 911 immediately before swinging to his ultimate destination. As Peter was on Amsterdam Avenue and shot a web onto a building's side, something flashed briefly on the same building. Peter's eyes widened and he cut his web off as the building exploded, showering the street with rubbles and glass.

Screams burst through the air as people abandoned their cars and trucks and fled to the safest place they could think of. Peter moved to help them, but his spidey sense took over and he was flipping over a black tentacleas it swept across the street floor. A beastly growl got Peter to glance up, and the person before him looked like a monster from a child's picture book.

It had a cheshire grin, a black liquid —that was most definitely not blood, it didn't smell the same— trickling down its chin, with a masculine figure and spindly arms. Not to mention the several fleshy tentacle like limbs sprouting from its back and wiggling around, and the tilted head that is sporting a massive wound on the top of its head. It screamed and staggered a bit, shaking its head and roaring at the police scattered across the street.

One of the tentacles lashed out and knocked 4 officers into the ground, rushing Peter — and did I forget to mention that it had ugly and sharp horns on its head, that somewhat resembled antlers but aren't quite antlers? Peter jumped over the monster, trying to say something witty when one of the tentacles that Peter's mind forgot about struck Peter in the head. Peter rolled along the ground, his spidey sense forcing his body to move away from the deadly claws this monster had.

 **"Why do you smell like her?"** Peter side jumped away from a tentacle and was forced onto the wall by another tentacle. **"ANSWER ME?!"** Peter yelped in fear as a tentacle struck too close to home.

Another tentacle hit Peter's arm, effectively getting Peter to let go of the wall. His back hit the concrete, and Peter coughed up a bit of blood. The monster was over him in an instant, wrapping his hand around Peter's neck and lifting him up into the air, with Peter pulling on his hand and his costume a bit torn. **"How DARE you even think about sleeping with her?! What makes YOU think that you can be near our queen?"**

Peter coughed, glaring underneath the mask. "I truly have no idea what you are talking about, since I have never slept with anyone. Though if you could hook me up with someone, that would be appreciated." Peter saw stars and the monster bashed his head against the hard street floor.

 **"Don't make fun of me! Just tell me why you smell like her!"** One of the tentacles sharpened and hovered threateningly over Peter's neck. **"Or I could make an early dinner with you."**

Peter chocked slightly as the monster's grip onhis throat tightened, and got out, "If I knew I was the main course, I would have gained a few more pounds." Peter, even as the tentacle went through his hip and he screamed in pain, thought that the brief annoyance flashing across the monster's ever smiling face was worth it.

 **"Then I guess I will have to make due with what I have."** If Peter could, he would have cheered. _Finally, a villain that actually contributes to a joke!_ **"I guess I will have to ask the queen myself."**

"Wait, you think I slept with a queen? Stop flattering me, though that was to be expected." The monster growled, rearing its tentacle back.

An arrow flew through the air and hit the monster's eye, and the beast shrieked, throwing Peter across the street and into the wall. Peter coughed violently, barely managing to lift up the mask before he vomited onto the floor. Though Peter had been thrown into a wall and stabbed through his hip, he felt pretty fine. Peter caught a brief blue glow over his hip before he was forced to duck underneath a flying tentacle.

A woman with scarlet hair leaped and twisted through the maze of tentacles constantly moving and thrashing through the air, slicing some of them as well, although those tentacles would grow back almost as fast as they were cut off. Whenever the monster would gain an edge over the woman, an arrow would fly out of nowhere and hit the monster in a weak point, distracting it enough for the lady to get in a hit or two.

 **"Leave me alone!"** the monster screeched, attempting to run away. Peter saw this and let out a flurry of webs to keep the monster from escaping. The monster yelped and scampered out of the range of the lady's knives, arrows grazing the monster or missing a vital point.

The lady rushed in, managing to jump on the creature's back and lifted her knife into the air, preparing to stab it. The creature shook and SCREAMED. A human scream of terror and despair, something that got Peter to hesitate. The lady didn't hesitate, and stabbed the creature anyways.

But it got Peter to hesitate, and that was all it needed. The sharp tentacle from before pierced through the woman's body, right through the stomach. She cried out and fell limply to the floor, her knife clattering and the creature's body thumping onto the concrete. Peter rushed over to her side, and webbed her away from the creature, just as the sharp tentacle weakly dropped where the lady had been moments before.

Peter panted heavily, his legs feeling like jello as he stood upright. The monster was vomiting, breathing heavily, and it took longer to take a breath each time. **"Please, kill it. Kill me."** Peter's heart stopped, his face paling as he remembered the alley and the lady's neck twisted.

Peter blinked, and he was above the monster, clutching his head as if he was about to twist the neck. Palms sweaty, body shaking, moving to leave. A tentacle hit Peter in the side, pushing Peter off of it, and then said, **"I understand you can't do it."**

Then the sharp tentacle stabbed the monster through the heart, and the life left in the monster's eyes faded, and the corpse collapsed. Peter clutched his head in agony as he began to scream. People yelling, surrounding Peter as he begged for the pain to stop. Then Peter flashed back to the dream, but now it was all so clear. IT was back, yet grimacing and IT's ears were flattened against IT's head.

"I'm sorry, b—Spidey..." Peter blinked, backing away as IT tried to come closer. "I wanted to protect you... Everyone says I am a monster and a freak, and I hate it when they aay that to me."

"Why are you doing this?" A tear escaped Peter's eye, trailing down his cheek, and then he couldn't hold them back. Tears streamed down the sides pf his face as Peter cried, "Why do you have to be such a monster?!" IT shrunk back, eyes wide and body trembling. "Why do you have to kill everyone?! I HATE YOU!"

IT was paralyzed, eyes wide and welling. Peter had a flash of Mara about to cry, and Peter could all of a sudden see IT as a small child, scared and just wanting to do something to get back at those harming it, only to be shunned further.

"Do you mean that?" IT's voice was quiet and high, just like a small child trying to hold back tears. "Am I just a monster to you? After what I have done to try and make you happy?!"

"What do you mean MAKE ME HAPPY?! This is something only someone insane would want! I HATE YOU, AND NOTHING CAN CHANGE THAT!!!" Peter sobbed harder, feeling the weight of the world crash down upon him as IT's fists clenched and unclenched, breaths becoming heavier and heavier.

 **"How DARE you insult her?!"** It's hand violently grabbed Peter's throat, stabbing IT's fingers into Peter's neck. Blood streamed down, and Peter's vision blurred. **"After ALL that she had done for you, to try and keep you from killing yourself, you would just THROW HER AWAY!"**

IT slammed Peter into the ground, breaking all of Peter's bones. Peter couldn't even breathe anymore, and yet he was still alive. His blood flowed from all of the wounds, and Peter could only note how IT's face switched from horrified to gleeful constantly.

"Why would you do that?!" IT shrieked, clawing at itself in an attempt to injure. Though the injuried healed fast, and IT was left to cry blood red tears.

 **"Because he insulted YOU! He insulted US! He won't even look at you in this state, and that only goes to show how little he cares about you!"** IT cried harder, switching between a human voice and a more beastly voice.

"But he doesn't know who I am. If he knew, he wouldn't hate me anymore!" IT cried harder, even as other monstrous beings slashed and roared at each other, one of them stabbing another in the heart, and another ripping off a head.

 **"HE'S JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM!!!"** Peter's vision faded into black, and that was when he almost fell off a ladder leading out of a sewer, shivering and had slung his book bag over his shoulder. Peter looked down and saw that his Spider-Man costume had been taken off and that he was wearing his civilian clothing.

Peter finished the climb and lifted a manhole up, looking around to see an alleyway. He replaced the manhole and continued on his merry way. Peter even whistled and skipped lightly, pulling his phone out of his backpack and starting to play on it. The sun was beginning to set, but Peter didn't mind that he was out that long. Heck, he felt great!

RIIIIIIIING!!!! Peter jumped slightly as his phone rang, and Peter almost dropped his phone onto the ground as he answered the call. "Hello?" Peter asked, checking both ways before he walked, just so he wouldn't have to use his spidey sense in public.

"PETER!" _OH MY GOD! TONY STARK IS CALLING ME!_ Peter was stunned into silence at the fact that his idol was calling him as Tony continued to talk. "Mara is going CRAZY right now! She almost jumped out the window ON PURPOSE and then attacked Bruce when he was trying to get her blood and calm her down!"

"Again?" Peter began to run as fast as he could without making a scene. "Okay, I'll be right there!"

"Wait, AGAIN?!" Peter held the phone far away from his ear as Tony yelled into the phone, responding when Peter deemed fit as he headed back to the tower. As Tony calmed down, Peter got Tony to tell him what exactly happened.

"Okay," Tony said. "Yeah, Bruce went to ask Mara what she wanted to eat when he saw her about to jump out the window and sort of forced her to get off the window sill. She then started to throw a hissing fit, literally, and now has locked herself into her room and has made it so JARVIS can't open it anymore."

"Okay, this time might be a bit more serious than the last times." Peter said his goodbyes and ended the call as he waited for the elevator to come down. _Maybe I could just use the stairs and then hack into JARVIS later to delete the videos..._

Then the elevator doors opened. Peter walked inside, and then told JARVIS to bring him up to his floor. Then the corpse fell to the floor.

 **Sorry that I have taken forever and that this chapter ended in a cliffhanger, and that the thing is so similar to the virus in Maze Runner. Don't worry, they are different. And just so you know, things do happen with the rest of the Avengers. I just don't know how to get the rest of the Avengers into the mix. Don't worry, the rest will appear.**

 **And I am also changing the plot a bit. Just saying. And I will see you reading the next chapter. Bye!**

 **(10 points to anyone who gets it. Trust me, the points do count. In the OTHER ending. Just saying.)**


	7. We Weave The Avengers

**Hey, guess what? I'm changing Thana's name to Mara. I just found the name and thought it would be a better name for Thana. Don't worry, I'll try to change the other chapters accordingly so that way it doesn't just become Mara here. Sorry for those who like the name Thana, I feel like Mara defines Thana more in this story.**

 **Don't worry, I will try to keep everything else the same except for the plot, because my plots suck. I read another fanfiction, and theirs was much more well thought out and just written very well, whereas I just start typing and stop when I feel like the chapter is getting a bit too long. Sooo... Sorry for writing like a kindergartner or however you spell that word.**

POV Change

Mara was scared. Scared and confused. She couldn't think straight, all she knew was that she went to sleep in her bedroom with Aunt May calling out "Goodnight!" and Peter kissing her forehead before closing the lights, and then she woke up in a weird place. She wanted the window to unlock, and after a weird voice just came out of nowhere she asked to open the window —because Aunt May taught her to always be polite— and the window unlocked.

Then when she was trying to figure out a way down by the side of the building, a man walked in and dragged her back inside. _They are going to hurt me!_ She kicked and screamed bloody murder, biting down on Bruce's hand and then running into another room where she locked the door and welded it shut with some spare parts littered around the room. Now she was huddled in a corner with more strangers trying to get inside the room.

A red droplet splashed onto her dress, which was black, and Mara wiped away the rest with a box of tissues conveniently placed in this room. Then she heard someone screaming. She crept up to the vent and lowered her ear by it, concentrating on the familiar voice. Mara gasped, saying, "Big brother!"

She tore open the vent, sized for a small adult or a child, and crawled around in the vents. Mara once had to hide behind a corner as a grown man crawled through the vents and headed to where she came from, and Mara knew she had to hurry to Peter. _Who knows what they could be doing to big brother._

So Mara crawled along, following the screaming until she could hear it right by her. Then the screaming stopped. And Mara saw another vent covering that she could crawl through. So Mara did, and was met with Peter and a corpse on the floor. "Big brother!" Mara cried out, relieved and hugging Peter tightly.

Peter wasn't responding to her hug, so Mara looked up at Peter with her wide eyes and tilted her head to one side, whispering, "Big brother?" Then her eyes glimmered with that look of understanding. "What kind of torture did they put you through?"

Then the doors opened, and then strangers ran over, stopping when they saw Mara hugging Peter and Peter with a traumatized expression and a corpse on the floor. "What — How did Mara get over there?" one of the guys questioned, confused by Mara's master escape plan.

Peter let out a strangled noise, falling onto his knees as he just stared at the corpse lying on the floor, chest gaping open and the organs barely attached to the corpse. The strangers rushed into the elevator, and Mara hissed, baring her teeth and her pupils looking like a cat's pupil.

"We're just trying to help Peter," the one with glasses said, pushing it up and fidgeting with anything he had on him. "Can you just let us do that?" Mara thought about this carefully. _They could have taken me and Peter from Aunt May and Uncuw Ben, but they haven't hurt big brother yet. If they hurt big brother I wiw personawy kiw them._

Mara nodded, and reluctantly hopped off of Peter, clutching the teddy bear that Aunt May had given her and held Peter's hand, screaming and pulling hair when they tried to take her away from Peter. The men opened some random door and led Peter in, trying to get him to calm down. A woman walked through the doorway, and her eyes brightened at seeing Mara. Her high heels clapped against the floor as she hurried over to Mara, whom stopped to at least be polite to this woman that seemed to have been tricked by the bad guys.

"Hey, Mara!" Mara's heart stopped briefly. _How does she know my name? Is she a relative that I had no idea about?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!_ The lady saw the teddy bear and smiled softly at it, reaching out to touch the teddy bear.

Her face portrayed a feeling of hurt as Mara pulled the teddy bear away, stepping closer to the bed that Peter was now laying on while sort of responding to the men surrounding him. "Mara, it's me. Pepper Potts." Mara felt a sort of better feeling about the lady than the bad guys, and shuffled just a bit closer towards Pepper Potts, the nice lady with the blond hair.

"I don't know any Pepper Potts." Mara looked down at her feet, face heating up with shame at the fact that she couldn't remember what possibly was one of her adopted relatives. "I just want to go home."

Pepper Potts' face morphed into one of confusion. "What are you talking about? You have nowhere else to go. And I gave you the teddy bear." Mara backed away from her, a sensation of something cold coming up her spine.

"No you didn't. Aunt May gave it to me as a present." Mara clung to Peter further, panic building up. _What's going on? Why does this aduwt keep saying that she knows me? Am I the freak?_

A warm hand lightly clenched her hand, and Mara stopped panicking to look up at Peter's face. He had sat up on the bed, dangling his legs over the edge of the bed, and grasped her hand, the other men sighing in relief. His smile seemed strained, yet genuine at the same time. "It's going to be okay, Mara. You just forgot again." _Forgot? Forgot what?_

"Forgot? Forgot what?"

Glasses headed to her, kneeling down in front of Mara. Mara hugged Peter's left leg, trying her best to hide behind Peter's legs. "Come with me," Glasses said, his voice gentle and welcoming. "Don't worry, you'll be okay. And afterward I'll give you candy."

Mara's eyes lit up with delight. "Reawy? I wiw get candy?" Glasses nodded and Mara timidly came out from behind Peter, clasping Glasses' hand, never once letting go of her teddy bear. (This is why Peter doesn't trust Mara to go out on the street by herself. She is too easily fooled with candy!)

 _When Gwasses isn't scary, he's nice._ (Yes, very simple, but Mara is a simple child. Remember that.) "Okay, may you please sit on this chair?" Glasses asked, politely as well.

"I wike you, Gwasses!" Glasses appeared a bit... disappointed? Sad? Glasses gently pulled on Mara's arm and guided her up the chair, allowing Mara to plop into the chair and swing her legs.

"Hey, what kind of candy am I going to get?" Glasses opened a drawer and pulled out something pointy and weird. Mara didn't like the pointy thing, but Glasses didn't do anything to hurt Mara yet, other than pull her out of a window. But Peter did that all the time, and he told Mara that it was because he didn't want Mara to fall. So maybe Glasses was good.

"How about any kind you want?" Mara's eyes brightened considerably, and she bounced a bit in the seat, squirming slightly as Glasses lowered the pointy thing. "This might hurt, but I need you to be brave. You're a big girl, right?"

Mara puffed up her chest and beamsd proudly, nodding vigorously. "I'm a big girw! I can do this!" Glasses smiled at her and then poked the needle into her arm. _This hurts! But if I cry or show pain, Gwasses won't think I'm a big girl anymore._

So Mara just bit her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes, willing herself to not scream. Then a bandaid was slapped over the place where the pointy thing went in, and Mara could breathe out again. Mara placed a hand on her heart, feeling it beat and relaxing at the thought that she wasn't not alive anymore. "Just like I promised, here's a box of candy!" Glasses opened a drawer and dug through the items, pushing one or two things out of the way before pulling out a box and placing it onto the table.

Mara opened the box and gasped, leaning on her small hands so she could see the inside. Every piece of candy that she loved were in this little box. "Yay!" Mara cheered, burying her hand into the candy.

"Hey, Mara!" A big hand landed on Mara's shoulder, and Mara tensed. _I don't know who this is._ "How have you been? Are you feeling better?"

Mara leaned her head back so she could see the dude's face, and a guy with blond hair and some eyes and a nose and a mouth and a head and a BIG body towered over her. Mara screamed, dropping all the candy she had grabbed into the box and her teddy bear onto the floor and scrambled underneath the nearest table, trembling underneath it like a leaf in a wind storm desperately trying to stay onto the tree. "Steve, I told you not to barge in here! Now you scared Mara!" A head peered underneath the table, and Glasses grinned, albeit more timidly than a lot of people Mara knew.

"Sorry, Mara. Steve didn't mean to scare you." Mara hesitated, then slowly crawled to the edge of the table, shrinking back when the weird man's face smiled at her. "Mara, this is Steve, and we are friends with Peter."

Mara frowned, still disbelieving of what anyone other than Peter is saying around here, and tries her best to glare at the weird man. "I stiw don't trust him. He's CREEPY and TAW and VERY SHADY." The man she was insulting laughed, bending over a bit as he did so, and just solidified the creepy factor in Mara. "I don't wike you," Mara muttered, keeping her voice low enough that she couldn't head.

Glasses chuckled nervously, and stretched a friendly hand out to Mara. "Name's Bruce." Mara tentatively shook Glasses now renamed Bruce's hand. "Last time you liked Steve. Why the sudden change?"

"Because at weast Steve actuawy was nice and funny. That man, he's not reawy Steve!" Mara huffed, crossing her arms and turning her head away from Steve, scrunching her eyes and nose. Steve walked a bit closer and Mara hurried over to Bruce, wrapping her short arms around Bruce's leg and burying her face into it, trying her best not to look at what was now Steve.

"Why don't we play tag, Mara? Last time you had fun." Mara glanced over at what was called Steve, and quickly hid her face, terrified at what she saw. "Come on, it'll be fun!" Mara shook her head, tightening her hug and trying her best to disappear.

"Mara, do you want to go back to Peter?" Mara choked out a sob, trembling as she felt Steve's eyes locked onto her, and relaxing only when Bruce hoisted her onto his shoulders, and grabbing some candy and Mara's bear as he left the room and into the elevator. "Are you okay?" Bruce asked, a drastic difference between his kind words and weird Steve's voice.

"Steve is creepy. He wooks wike he wants to murder me or something!" Mara ranted, her feisty attitude sparking up after the meeting. "No, he wants to take aw of my candy for himself!" She stuck her arms up in the air and stuck her tongue out, scrunching her face to form that look that only toddlers can make adorable.

"Trust me, I think Steve will stay away from your candy," Bruce said, giving out a small laugh before the doors of the elevator opened once more for the two. Long legs making their way over to Peter's room, Bruce handed the teddy bear to Mara. "Here you go!"

Mara made a small, delighted gasp and squealed, hugging the teddy bear close to her body and turning from side to side, making the teddy bear do weird poses and talked in a deeper voice. "Hi there, Mara. My name is... Uhh," Mara stopped, putting her thinking cap on and trying to come up with a name.

"What should I name my teddy bear?" Mara asked Bruce, rocking back and forth as she pondered this VERY significant question.

Bruce placed a finger on his lower lip, wondering what he should say. "What about Teddy?" Bruce mentally kicked himself for such a generic name, but Mara loved it.

"Oh, oh! His wast name could be Bear! Hewo, Teddy Bear!" A sigh escaped Bruce as Mara chattered with the bear. He put Mara onto the ground, and one of the doors right in front of Bruce forcefully opened, almost hitting Brice squarely in the face.

Peter yelled something into the room as he stormed out, an angry scowl plastered onto his face that deepened when Tony yelled something back at Peter. "Mara!" he called out, pushing right past Bruce to get to Mara, whom answered whild giggling, "Parker!" Peter scooped Mara off the ground and brushed past Bruce without even a glance in his direction, not even a word spoken.

POV Change

"Wait, Peter!" Bruce ran after Peter, who turned around a corner. When Bruce turned, Peter was already gone, most likely headed to the elevator. "What did Tony say now?"

"I did nothing this time, I swear!" Tony complained, sruprising Bruce. "I don't even know why he got mad!"

Pepper also appeared out of nowhere, arguements prepared ahead of time. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because you basically told the kid that Spider-Man would never be able to be a hero even when you knew Spider-Man was also that kid's idol?! You even called Spider-Man a CRIMINAL and-!"

"Well, it's not my fault that Spider-Man had to go and bust Natasha's nose, not to mention kick those officers' asses. We have to go and fetch ol' Spidey now, and why are you even on the kid's side? You don't even know him that well!" Bruce's mind tuned out everything else once his mind caught up with what Tony and Pepper had just said.

"Wait, what?!" Bruce yelled, cutting off whatever Pepper was saying. "What do you mean WE have to go FETCH Spider-Man?!"

"What it sounds like," Tony snorted, blatantly ignoring Pepper's glares as he welcomes Bruce's distraction. "Spider-Man kicked the shit out of the officers' asses and managed to break Natasha's nose before escaping into the sewers, and now Fury has been given the order to boss us around and tell us to go get Spidey and arrest him, since he is now a criminal."

POV Change

Peter threw his backpack onto the familiar hard ground. They were back in the old building where Peter had first been homeless. Now did Peter remember how cold it really was outside, but now it was spring, so it should get a little warmer. Though thankfully Peter managed to grab his inventions and some spare blankets, along with his electronics, Peter only managed to grab a little bit of the food before he had to hit the road. It would only last a day, maybe two if Peter could spread it out that long, but that was it.

Somehow Peter would have to earn money to buy food. Maybe he could steal from the theives he webs up every day. It could give him some spare cash. Though he did leave behind his camera in his attempt to escape. So he couldn't sell his pictures of Spider-Man since he didn't even have a camera or the money to buy one.

(Yes, Peter has a phone, but it is just a flip phone, meaning that it had no camera built into it, or a flashlight. The only thing it could do is call, and the only number Peter could call would be 911, since he couldn't even afford to buy new blankets, much less service. So, Peter is homeless and has even less of a chance to make money since he forgot the only thing he had that could make him a lot of money.)

Peter was left broke and had only one backpack, an old building, and Mara. _Well, I'm screwed_. Peter spread out one of the few blankets they had and let Mara lay down first before he followed. Mara's breaths slowed, becoming deeper, and Peter just listened to the sound of her breathing before he closed his eyes and attempted at getting some rest.

(Oh, and just for those pervs out there, or those who are confused or creeped out somehow, Peter is never going to be intimate with Mara. Also, Mara is a six year old that Aunt May and Uncle Ben adopted in the late fall, and her birthday hasn't come around yet, so she's still six. Peter isn't a weirdo, and I hope neither are you. So don't get confused, Peter just cares about his sister! Jeez, why am I getting so worked up?)

Awake and hopping about the next morning, Peter pulled on his Spider-Man costume and crawled up the walls of the old building, unlocking one of the windows and sticking his head out, feeling the air and noting that yes, it was getting warmer. Peter clambered out the window and shut it with his foot, shivering in the warmer-but-still-cold air. _Okay, I have to be careful. Maybe I can work something out with the Avengers, keep them from killing me._

"I'm screwed," Peter finally said after watching the sun rise, rubbing his arms in an attempt to wake them up again. He hopped off the building, rolling when he hit the ground and running off to the city. "Well, time to see how badly I'm needed, despite the city thinking otherwise."

Peter hesitated mid-swing, slowing down his speed as he stared at the crowd of people watching a huge TV that was in the middle of the sidewalk. He clung to the wall and was shocked to see what the news was talking about. "And here we have footage of Spider-Man attacking fellow officers and Black Widow, before fleeing the scene." The TV replayed the video, and Peter couldn't believe what he had done when he was blacked out.

The monster was lying there, motionless, tongue lolling as Spider-Man on the TV began to scream. Spider-Man was flailing and thrashing, and the officers that usually shot first, questioned later, rushed to Spider-Man's aid, moving him around to see what the problem was. Then one of the officers pulled the mask up, probably to either see if any damage had been done to his face or to just know Spider-Man's identity, when Spider-Man pushed humself up and kicked at the officer's legs. The officer tumbled to the floor, and Spider-Man began looking for a way out.

The other officers pulled out their guns, and Black Widow, who was standing at the sidelines, sprung into action and aimed a kick at Spider-Man's head. Spider-Man backflipped over her leg, failing at attacking her side when she managed to jump back. She attacked again, ducking underneath one of Spider-Man's webs and managed to get a right uppercut in. Spider/Man swayed on his feet, and Black Widow took this and swept Spider-Man's feet off the ground.

But Spider-Man, as he fell, used his momentum to twist his body into a handspring, kicking Black Widow's jaw as he jumped back, earning some surprised gasps. As soon as Spidey touched the floor he was dodging bullets and arrows, not to mention Black Widow recovered and entered the fray once more. Spidey was failing, falling back with more wounds every second, most of them just a few scratches here and there from a stray arrow that he failed to completely dodge. A few people covered their mouths with a shocked face, and the rest of the crowd began whispering, one person cheering Spidey for a few moments before his friends shushed him.

Black Widow leaped over Spidey, landing behind him to jump onto his back. Spider-Man's arms were trapped behind his back, and Black Widow slammed him into the ground, the crowd oohing at the display. "Stop moving, or I'll break your arms." Peter flinched at her tone, hiding as best as he could while on the side of a building. The crowd leaned forward, a small child planting her palms onto the window pane.

"Get off!" Spider-Man writhed and aimed a hand at Widow's face, spattering as much web as he could shoot at once in her face. "Jeez, can you lay off the whole I'm-going-to-kill-you thing?" Spider-Man leaned back as two knives flew for his head, sailing past him and hitting some runble behind Spider-Man. "Guess that's a no."

Black Widow leaped onto one piece of rubble and pulled out a gun, firing at Spider-Man as he twisted and jumped to dodge the onslaught. The officers hid behind the surplus of building parts while the fight continued on, the camera supplying the audience most of the fight before Black Widow shot the last street camera as she fought Spider-Man. The news caster came back on, rambling on about how Spider-Man is now a villain or whatnot, but Peter right now was having an existential crisis. _I took on Black Widow?! And made it out with minimal injuries?!_

"Hey look, its Spidey!" Peter blinked as the world came back into focus, providing him the image of the child by the window pointing up at him with childish wonder, the adults shadowing their hands with their eyes as they watched Peter. "Hi, Spidey!" The child waved, sporting a wide beam, oblivious to the suspicious adults.

"Sweetie, don't talk to that VIGILANTE." Peter winced underneath his mask. A woman near the child, most likely the mother, grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her away, giving Peter the stink eye before turning around and not looking back. A lot of the crowd followed suite, some walking away and others insulting Peter or just glaring at Peter, but none of them actually did anything to Peter.

A scream tore through the air, snapping Peter to attention. Peter observed with wide eyes as the woman and child ran back to where Peter was, a whole crowd with them, ducking every time an explosion went off. Peter saw the child fall onto her face, and moved without thinking, swinging down to the ground and sweeping the child off of the floor. He moved her to a safer location, saying, "What I need you to do is run in that direction and don't stop running until you have to. Understand?"

The small girl nodded, and Peter clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Such a smart girl," Peter said, trying his best not to let his voice crack or waver. She grinned sheepishly and began to take Peter's advice, sprinting off away from the source of the explosions. His spidey sense tingled, and Peter shot out a web and swung away, barely missing the hot blob of lava rapidly landing where he was once standing.

People were screaming, running away as a ball of something was shooting off ice, moving wind around harshly, and spitting out more lava. "Hey!" Peter called out. "Hey, listen! I NEED YOUR ATTENTION!"

People began to slow down, hearing Peter, yet others continued to panic. "Anyone who can listen, run in that direction as fast as possible and help anyone who can't run as fast. Can we do that?!"

Everyone who heard shouted positive answers and herded the other panicked people away from the deadly creature, Spider-Man landing from time to time and keeping people moving. Sometimes Peter had to swing people away from a dangerous glob of something being thrown, and other times Peter just had to land and tell someone to "RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!" Soon enough, the streets began to clear out, little by little, as more people ran and helped others escape the torrendous beast in the middle of an intersection.

Then the ball of something spat out this HUGE chunk of metal, fashioned to do something with machinery, and hurled it at nearby bystanders panicking and having mental breakdowns. Peter webbed two out of the four and pulled them out of the projectile's landing zone, unable to help the other two escape it. Peter gulped, trying his best to tell himself that it was not his fault that the two barely managed to scrape past death as the managed to get most of their body out of the way before the metal landed. _Just more faces for the nightmares._

A blur of red and white whizzed past Peter, hitting the ball throwing different things, and a howl left the beast. Recovering from the shock of the blow, the beast had no time to grab it or throw something as the shield ricocheted off of the ball and back into the hand of the one, the only Captain America. Another projectile hit the creature, this one garnering a much more volatile reaction as the beast sprayed burning hot lava all around its vicinity. The sound of a jet bounced off the walls of whatever remained of the city (which wasn't much), and a red and gold figure reflected the morning light.

Peter legit fan girled over Tony's suit in his mind, observing how Tony's suit moved as he walked, before remembering exactly what Tony had said to HIS OWN FACE. (I'm not going to say exactly what it was, but it may have resulted in smashing and some beer spills, along with some REALLY vulgar language.) Tony stopped a few feet away from the lava still on the floor, cooling down in the March air. The ball contorted and twitched, an angry glow emitting off the ball.

"Okay, is this just me or is there actually an angry ball of shit turned disco ball throwing lava everywhere?" Apparently THIS ball of shit understood exactly what Tony had said AND got offended, for a clump of some sort of feces was thrown at Tony's face. Or Tony's helmet anyways. And don't even mention the SMELL.

Peter gagged as the odor reached his nostrils, plugging it up to try to keep out the affronting smell. But it didn't work very well. "How does this thing even produce lava and ice so quickly?" The ball started to glow even brighter than it was before, blinding Peter and Captain America, though they pulled away in time to blink it away.

 **"Why is humanity so stupid?! I am not a ball of shit, nor just an object! I am Mana, the evolutionary form of a human!"** The ball — Sorry, "Mana" gave off waves of freezing cold and scalding hot air, which Tony was the only one spared from. Peter, way more sensitive, grit his teeth and tried to bear the pain.

"Cap!" Captain America looked sort of uneasy and didn't look away from the beast. "You keep this thing distracted, I'm going to try and help those people!" Peter turned 180 degrees and dashed towards the people still stuck underneath the metal object, using his webbing to get there faster.

Peter halted right by a female, her face scrunched in pain as she let out a hoarse scream, and Peter caught a more masculine scream just like the female's on the other side of the metal object. "Okay, I need you to calm down and try to not freak out. You can do that, right?" The woman —more like a teenager— opened her mouth and tried to speak, but ended up just nodding to save her voice.

"Okay, just wait right here while I check up on the other guy. Just stay ca—Woah!" Peter barely managed to whip up a web barrier before another metal object slammed into it, almost hitting Peter in the face before slingshotting foreward. The two stuck under the metal object shrieked as best as they could, though their screams were barely above a whisper. Peter placed a hand over his heart, breathing hard and trying his goddamn best to calm down before peeping his head around the metal object to see a middle-aged man with only his calves underneath the hunk of metal.

"Hey, are you okay?" Peter asked stupidly, wishing to face palm before remembering he could, since the man couldn't even respond. "Don't worry, I'm going to try and get you out of here," Peter gave the man—who couldn't even see Peter—a calm-down gesture, facing the metal object afterwards and rubbing uis hands together. Peter breathed in and out, readying himself for the grueling effort. Peter bent down and grasped the edge of the hunk of metal, grabbing the least sharp side and giving out a grunt of pain as he pulled upward.

The melted metal gave out multiple groans as Peter slowly tilted the pile, slicing into his hands, and Peter yelled in pain. He grit his teeth and screamed as the metal continued to slice up his hands, but Peter just rolled with the pain and continued to lift the metal. After multiple minutes of more items hitting the barrier and Peter trying his best to loft the metal, Peter managed to get a hold of the bottom and pushed with his shoulder and his palms. Peter could hear the web sizzling as something hot hit it, and Peter knew it was only a matter of time before something flew over here and smashed into the trio.

The male slithered forward slowly, and Peter wanted to vomit at the sight of his calves. His legs were like chunky salsa with some sharp white bone shards and powder mixed in, and the chunky parts would slide with the legs a bit before stopping and crumbling into more putty. The man couldn't even speak anymore, he lost his voice screaming from the pain.

The teen was worse. She couldn't even crawl forward, since below her waist was just utterly deformed and looked pretty much like the man's calves. Only difference was that her chunks of flesh were much bigger and some strips of leg were still connected to her torso, and the teen's body was racked with pain. Peter could feel his face turn green, but he held it in and as he swallowed he could feel and taste the bile slithering back down his throat.

"Oh god," Peter spit out, sort of stuck underneath a tilted pile of metal. "Hey!" The male turned back to Peter, his face flooded with pain. "Move out of the way!" Peter stretched his legs out little by little, tilting the metal more and more.

The male got the message and bit the inside of his cheek as he pulled himself along the ground out of the metal's path to meet the ground again. Peter yelled as he used all of his strength to push on the metal, and the house-sized pile of metal fell to the floor with a loud crash. Peter's legs and arms felt like jello, wobbly and Peter fell to his knees.

An object whizzed past Peter's fragile body and crashed into what used to be a somehow-still-standing light pole. Lifting his head, Peter's eyes slightly widened at what he saw. Iron Man got up, shaking his head and saying something, but Peter couldn't catch it, since his ears began to ring. Liquid trickled down Peter's left ear, and without having to see Peter could tell it was blood.

Once more (and yes, I have realized that Peter has blacked out at least once every chapter nowadays), Peter's vision began to blacken around the edges. Despite his ears ringing, his fading consciousness and his vision, Peter saw a small figure rapidly approaching, and then Captain America was in front of Peter, waving his hands. When Peter didn't respond, Captain America reached for the edge of Peter's mask.

And that was when shit hit the fan.

 **Hey, sorry about the long writing block period. It was going to happen eventually and most definitely will happen again since I am spending most of my time supporting PewDiePie nowadays. Go subscribe to him and don't subscribe to any Youtube account that starts with a T and has millions of subscribers. Please, don't let Youtube fall! Go now, before it is too late!**

 **Don't let Mr. Beast's efforts go to waste! GO SUBSCRIBE TO PEWDIEPIE! And that's it! All there is to this chapter. Go to PewDiePie before reading my next chapter once it comes out.**

 **GO!**


	8. Haunting Demons

**Hi! There probably will be another writing block. Once again, I just cannot do this! How am I supposed to write about how a fifteen year old acts if I'm not fifteen yet!**

 **I mean, what? I'm obviously twenty, I just forgot how to... act like a teen. Also, I hardly know anything about the Avengers except from what I have read from fanfiction, which actually is quite a lot. I just find it weird that I decided to write about superheroes when I hate superhero movies. Except Spider-Man, because Peter is awesome.**

 **And I don't HATE superhero movies, I just don't usually ENJOY or LIKE the movie. But hate is strong as well, so let's just say that I overall dislike most superhero movies. Though Marvel has given me some epic fight scenes.**

 **Anyways, long story short, I'm back, and now, let's get into business.**

 **Onwards, and yonwards!**

Remember when Peter was about to fall asleep again and Captain America was reaching for his mask? And how there was a small figure running up to them while the fight between the ball of shit—sorry, Mana—and Iron Man continued? And how there was still a man and a teen lying on the floor bleeding out? Do you want the answers to those questions?

Was Peter about to fall asleep again? Yes.

Was there a small figure running? Yes.

Was the fight continuing between Iron Man and Mana? Ehh, not exactly.

And was the man and teen that was buried underneath the metal bleeding out and dying? Absolutely.

Question time over. What was happening between Tony and Mana while Captain America was by Peter? Not much, really, not until a well-aimed small missle and some more weaponry that wouldn't result in the entire street exploding hit Mana, who was angry and also hurt.

 **"I'm goiNG TO DESTROY YOU!"** Mana shrieked. The mass that formed a sphere began to puff up, swirling into a batch of colors, lighting up the remains of the street. Tony didn't really panic, until a red light touched his suit.

Immediately Tony felt a large burn on his right arm, and he looked down to see some of the suit had melted from where the light had touched, and an angry burn made itself known to Tony. Another red light headed towards Tony, and Tony did his best to navigate around that light. But another red light made a path across Tony's stomach, burning its way through Tony's suit and his clothes, burning his skin. Tony gasped as he looked down at what remained of his precious suit. "What the fuck?!"

JARVIS locked onto Mana's body of energy, and had been scanning the energy waves for the entire time Tony had been there, sometimes piping up to give advice but otherwise staying quiet. "Sir, I have detected an anomaly in the energy spikes around Mana." A graph lit up the inside of Tony's helmet, staying in Tony's peripheral vision as he continued to stay away from the red lights.

A wavy, rather neutral line was on it, and a rather spiky line lay on top of it. "It seems as though the energy is unstable, now that Mana is angry. I suggest firing three missles at the very least before Mana calms down." A green light passed over Tony's chest, and Tony felt a sudden urge to vomit.

His faceplate opened up before Tony lurched forward, barely staying in flight as he vomited onto the street far below. "Okay, Mana seriously needs to chill the fuck out. I mean, who wants to make people VOMIT anymore? Come on, be original and try to do something else more, I don't know, DAMAGING?!"

Tony flew to the right as quick as he could when a giant boulder flew at him. "That's not being original! That's being primitive!" A red warning flared in Tony's peripheral vision when the faceplate dropped down on his face again.

A blue light passed over Tony's shoulder before Mana began to glow even brighter, earning a few cries of pain before the lights... stopped. Mana melted into a puddle of _something_ just as Tony felt the pain on his arm increase. "Ahh!" Tony screamed as he fell from the sky, landing hard on his back and deepening a crater already made into the ground.

He fell to the floor, twitching sporadically as the pain seemed to crawl up his arm and towards his shoulder. Thankfully, it stopped there, but the pain never went away. His arm felt like someone was chewing through his bone, trying and succeeding in making a hole through his arm.

Back to Peter. Peter watched in silent horror as Steve gripped the edge of his mask, pulling it up. Peter squeezed Steve's wrist with both of his hands, but he was severely weakened by the giant metal glob. Steve continued unhindered, making it up to Peter's jaw before something rather strange happened. Of course, Peter was almost unconscious by this point, so I am sorry to say we have to go to Steve's point of view.

Steve had been pulling up Spider-Man's mask, a sudden desire to see under the mask driving his hands to move forward. The smell on Spider-Man was driving him insane, wanting to cut open his chest and scream at him until his throat was raw. Nothing would stop Steve from seeing the mask, not even Spider-Man's attempt to break his wrist.

A wide, almost hindering on sadistic grin split Steve's face as he pulled the mask up above the jaw, Spider-Man's hands falling to the ground and whatever Steve could see of his face relaxing. The smell intensified, and Steve felt a growl emit from his throat. Then something hit the side of his head, _hard_.

It didn't make Steve bleed, but Steve still screeched in rage. It didn't seem wrong to act like an animal to Steve, for Steve had always been an animal. His veins seemed to fill with power, and Steve felt confident he could kill anything that got in his way. A clicking noise escaped his throat as he examined the small little girl standing alone, panting and out of breath. Her smell was toxic, no, it was _exotic_. Steve had never encountered such a smell, and it was quite weird, but a good weird.

Steve slowly approached the girl, the clicking noise growing louder, and as he approached the small, shaking child he bit into the side of the teen's throat, enjoying her scream before biting into the man's throat. _Might as well convert them. They were going to die anyways, why not put them to use?_

The teenage girl began spasming, and her blood vessels turned black, spreading surprisingly fast. He man twitch, but he seemed to be taking slower, fighting against whatever wanted to bring him down. But Steve didn't care what they felt, no, all he wanted to do was slice open the girl and feed on her blood, perhaps merging with her. The girl cried out for help, turning around to run away from the monster that she saw.

Steve's mouth salivated as he leaped onto pieces of rubble, keeping up with the girl but surprisingly not making that much progress in catching her. _Well, that just makes this all the more FUN._ Steve roared loudly, catching the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

I think you must have an idea on who this girl is. If you guessed it right, have another five points, for it was Mara! Red tears streamed down her face and splattered on the ground as she ran, looking back to see the monster from Stark's tower chasing her, leaping on various parts of rubble and sometimes running on all fours. The face was sort of human, still resembling the stranger that played tag with her, but the body was twisted, the legs looking more like a predator's than a human's.

"Help! HELP ME!" Mara cried as she ran for her life, the adrenaline just beginning to kick up. Mara took a right and hid behind some rubble, clapping a hand over her mouth to silence her breathing. She waited a minute. Two minutes.

Three minutes passed and Mara's fear, which had quieted, began to creep up again. _It's taking too long._ Then she heard a click. Two clicks. Her breath hitched and her legs screamed to run.

On the fourth click, Mara sprinted out from her hiding place. A roar sounded from behind her, the creature's feet pounding against the concrte behind her as Mara sprinted towards where the chase had started. She needed to be as close to where Mr. Stark was laying as possible, to get away from the awful beast screeching behind her. Her bare feet slapped the hard ground, cuts on the soles of her feet bleeding out all over the floor.

Mara screamed as she felt a hand grab her right foot, slamming into the ground. Her vision blurred, and she barely noticed being lifted up into the air by her waist, legs dangling. "Just a...wittaw...far..." Mara felt her blood trickling down her head, a darker red than what was normal.

A tongue licked off some of the blood, coarse and like sandpaper. Mara's vision blurred, everything swimming and the colors mixing. Her breath started to slow, and she felt a claw running down the length of her arm, leaving a long scratch. Her life blood started to leak, and Mara could feel her heart slow.

Then, her vision turned red as she remembered her big brother on the ground, almost dead with the beast on top, ready to rip his throat out. "You... Big bro-!" Mara's breath caught in her throat as she felt something tugging at her consciousness. No, her morality.

"Stop! St **op! Le** av **e m** e al **one!"** Mara screamed as she felt her insides twist and move. **"S** TO **P!"**

Then the monster shrieked, dropping Mara onto the ground as if it had been burned. Mara screamed for help, to stop the pain, and then people began shouting, the monster shrieking, and then—nothing.

A calm, a peaceful calm sweeping over Mara as a red figure scooped her off the concrete ground, their legs wobbling. Mara couldn't see details, but she knew it was her big brother coming to save her. "Big brother?" Mara breathed deeper, trying to take in more oxygen, not wanting to go to sleep again.

"Shh. It'll be okay, Mara." Mara smiled at his faniliar voice, and planted her hand against his chest, feeling her energy draining quickly. "Please, just stay awake for me, alright?"

Mara went through the motion of nodding, not really paying attention anymore. She couldn't even see anymore, but she could still hear. Hear her big brother shooting off a web and trying to swing away, the monster gasping for breath as people attacked it, the people shouting instructions. Still feel her brother's warm arm protectively wrapped around her as her breaths began to weaken, his heart beating slower than it usually did, the wind brushing against her face.

"It's warmer now...right, big brother?" Mara's boice was weak and raspy, having to breath deeper to take in any air, feeling her chest constricting. She felt them plummet for a bit, feeling some fear, but then the familiar *thwip* and feeling of being pulled back up gave her a rush of warmth. She felt safer, snuggling closer to Peter as she at last saw a speck of color.

It was red. Mara loves red. Red is her favorite color, splashing red paint on the street one of her fantasies. She wanted everything to be colored red, but then red wouldn't be as cool. Still, red was her favorite, and she loved it.

It reminded her of big brother.

POV Change

Another wave of pain shot through Peter's entire body as he swung his way through the city, but he didn't dare even yelp, because he didn't want to disturb Mara. Her breathing was ragged, taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out. The wind was warmer tonight, really warm, like, unnaturally warm for a spring night in New York city. Not like Peter was complaining, quite the contrary.

Peter's suit barely clung to him in some places, with his gloves torn to shreds and blown off by the wind. His vision was slightly tilted, but Peter has done this before so many times that it seems like second nature to swing around in this condition. Though he has to be more careful now that Mara, only six years old, was sleeping as Peter carried her through the city in a less than ideal condition.

For a while, it was calm. Peter just swinging, shooting off webs and swinging, Mara webbed to his back as she slept peacefully. It was rather difficult to swing with one arm while also being disorientated, so Peter landed on a rooftop a while back and webbed her onto his back so he could use both of my arms and allow Mara some much needed rest. Even though his suit was singed at the hems and his hands looking like they went through a grinder, Peter does not regret helping out, despite not being able to fight against the blob of matter.

Then, his spidey sense rammed into full gear, taking over his mind as Peter sank into darkness for no reason. Peter's soul was frantic, screaming for help, begging anything to happen. But nothing changed. Everything was still dark, and Peter was lost.

Then the dream happened all over again. Blood staining the floor and his face, Peter's vision crimson red because of it. Peter saw Captain America standing over his face, except it wasn't him. It was a monster, the black veins throbbing against its skin, the claws against his throat ready to tear it out. Peter screamed, swinging his arms in a blind panic.

Then he was stumbling forward on the concrete floor, an arrow stuck in his shoulder. Everything was sharp and crystal clear, nothing even remotely blurred. Even sharper than reality, if that was even possible. The arrow felt so real to Peter, like it was actually in his shoulder, and Peter grasped at whatever was protruding out, gaping at how real this all felt.

Nothing felt like a dream. Peter's vision felt like it was blurry, but everything still remained sharp and laser-focused. Then Peter saw IT again. IT smiled, wide and almost happy, if it wasn't made of darkness. The glowing eyes stared back at Peter, white and empty, yet also giving off a feeling of sadistic pleasure.

"Stop! Help me! HE **LP M** E!" Peter whipped his head around, seeing the transformation in full detail. The poor man's head cracked to the side as he screamed, his limbs growing in length and thinning to the bone, the joints twisting with sickening cracks.

 **"WHY A** REN'T Y **OU H** ELPI **ING US?!"** Peter's geart ached, and Peter leaned forward without thinking, wanting to help. But Peter couldn't move from his spot. IT wouldn't let him.

 **"Come on, now. You wouldn't want to spoil the fun, now, would you?"** IT chuckled as IT laid a hand onto Peter's shoulder, feeling Peter shiver under IT's touch. IT moved toward the man, raising something similar to a hand and brought it down upon the man's skull.

Peter swayed and felt the bile rise as he heard a splatter. The man went silent, the sounds of people roaring and screaming suddenly much clearer. IT acted as if IT was innocent, giving Peter what is reminicent of a warm smile turned sour. **"Now that that was taken care of, I think I'll watch the show. Would you be interested at watching my children battle for my attention?"**

Peter sputtered, shocked at how IT could talk about these things like IT was talking about a football game, not a war. "How can you just say things like that?!" Spurred on by the gain of confidence, Peter took a shaky step forward, his legs like noodles all of a sudden. "Is this all for ATTENTION?! For them to get attention?"

IT tilted IT's head, as if IT were a child that couldn't understand why they were being punished. **"You humans do this all the time, taking down all competition so you can come out on top and beloved."** IT never stopped smiling, even as Peter took a more confident step forward, eyes blazing. **"So why is it that when we do it you humans get defensive all of a sudden, despite you stealing food from others and surviving another day?"**

"Because I'm not ripping out another human's throat for fucking ATTENTION!" Peter's throat felt raw, he never had to yell this loud before. But Peter could only see Mara slamming into the floor, her head bleeding and feet cut open, the monster leaving a long scratch down her arm, licking her blood as if licking syrup off a pancake plate.

 **"There is no difference."** IT squeezed Peter's throat, IT's hand feeling wet and fluid like how it looked, but also surprisingly solid. **"I thought you might be different. But your just like the rest of them. WEAK AND ARROGANT."**

Flying through the air, then smashing against a wall that felt so _real._ **"WHY ARE HUMANS ALWAYS LIKE THIS?! Most of them have never experienced the hardship of trying to survive, and yet they THINK THEY OWN EVERYTHING!"** Liquid darkness smashing into Peter's side, leaving a gaping wound where IT had struck. Screams manifested and wriggled out of stubborn lips, screams of pain and suffering.

Peter felt himself fading out of the dream, the ground not feeling like the ground anymore. Everything began to blur, and Peter's vision flashed to something else that Peter had never seen. A blurry scene where something yellow came out of nowhere, and two people fell out, landing on the hard concrete of an alleyway. Then Peter awoke with a gasp.

They were in the warehouse, and Peter was hunched over a rotting desk that he found in another warehouse a few days ago, on a website about a high school. Peter felt himself brighten up as he fidgeted with the computer, typing away and filing out the form before hacking into another school and making up a fake person so that he didn't have foster care hunting him down and he could get into school again.

Now, to get some funds... _I didn't want to have to do this..._

 **Hi everyone. Sorry this chapter was really short, I have finals and I wanted to post something really quick so here it is. I looked up the public school system and yes, it is "free" but also does need money for some aspects of it. So, Peter heard from Aunt May about how she had to pay the taxes for the school, and he thought that you had to pay to get in. I thought that as well, but now I know differently.**

 **How Peter has electricity in the house is that he managed to hook it up to the power grid and then hacked into the power plant to make it seem like he wasn't using any electricity at all. I know, it seems redundant, but I don't know a better explanation. Though know that a lot of the stuff in the story isn't just thrown in there.**

 **I mean, some of it. I mean, most of this story is really just me writing random crap, but the actual disease and the weird dreams and that kind of stuff isn't just all random. THERE IS A PURPOSE. I'm just not very clear yet on how this is going to go.**


	9. Sorry

**Hey guys! And gals, for those who are feminists. This is where this part of the story ends. I know, I know! That was just a random spot to stop it! And I am sorry, but I have an idea for this new story and I have to end it here in order to pursue that story.**

 **Don't worry! This isn't the last you'll see of Peter and Mara. But I just have to end it here for the new story. If you want to know the name of the story, it's called The Cure or The Safe Haven. Basically describes Connor's problem, and has nothing to do with Maze Runner, trust me.**

 **I wanted to wait a bit before doing this, which is why I uploaded Haunting Demons, and that was kinda an apology chapter as well as an actual chapter. Maybe I'll even make a story about Peter and Mara's time on the streets. Who knows? Well, I do, but I don't know for sure, so...**

 **See you all in the next story! Or chapter, whichever one.**

 **Poem 1:**

 **Roses are red**

 **My lips are blue**

 **My lack of life**

 **Is what killed you**

 **Poem 2:**

 **Roses are red**

 **Your lips are blue**

 **You're hanging from a rope**

 **And I am, too.**

 **End of Poems**

 **Sorry if my poems are very...dark.**


End file.
